After weeks of tension, UN leaders talk to controversial Gaza aid group

Senior aid officials met with the head of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation on Wednesday, marking a sharp departure from months of bitterness between the United Nations and the GHF, the Israeli- and U.S.-backed group that has been delivering food to Gaza since late May. “The conversation was constructive, open, and we believe helpful,” wrote UNOCHA’s Joyce Msuya and InterAction’s Tom Hart in an email following the meeting, which was obtained by Devex. “We agreed it would be good for all to lower the public rhetoric and to focus on moving forward rather than what has happened or said previously.” Just one day before Wednesday’s meeting, a collection of U.N. experts had called for the GHF’s “immediate dismantling.” But the email — which was sent to the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, the U.N.’s highest-level humanitarian coordination forum — represented a change of tone, with Msuya and Hart stating that “there was a sense we could and should operate in parallel, complementary ways, each doing what we can.” “Fuller collaboration was raised without clarity on what that would mean,” the email stated. “Several concerns with the GHF model were tabled based on humanitarian principles.” The U.N. confirmed the meeting in a press briefing on Friday, with Stephanie Tremblay, the associate spokesperson for the U.N. secretary-general, stating that it was “held at the invitation” of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. It was a private meeting, with participants agreeing that it would be held under Chatham House Rule. Those at the meeting included GHF’s executive chairman, Johnnie Moore; Dorothy Shea, acting U.S. representative to the U.N.; and other high-level representatives from the United States, the World Food Programme, UNICEF, the International Organization for Migration, and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Tremblay said that while U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres was in Turkmenistan and did not attend the meeting, he was aware of it before it took place. “We welcome anyone raising their voice to urgently reach the civilians across Gaza with humanitarian assistance,” Tremblay told reporters. “But as we’ve said repeatedly, we already have a plan built on global humanitarian principles. That means we go where the needs are the greatest, we answer to civilians in need and not the warring parties, and there’s no change to our principled approach.” It’s the type of meeting that, for weeks, the GHF has been asking for. On June 4, the GHF stated that they met with leaders from WFP, but that the meeting “was cut short by the WFP.” On July 23, the GHF added that it “made the offer to deliver all United Nations aid sitting in Gaza for free.” The WFP did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication, nor did the GHF. The U.N. and many aid agencies have argued that GHF — with Israel’s backing — contradicts humanitarian principles of neutrality, and poses more risks for Gazans seeking aid, as they must traverse territory controlled by the Israel Defense Forces to get to the distribution sites. From March to May, Israel blocked virtually all aid from entering the battered territory; after the GHF became operational, its four distribution sites became the main way for people to access food, according to a recent report by Médecins Sans Frontières. In the same report, MSF said they had received 1,380 casualties — including 28 dead bodies — coming from GHF distribution sites, on top of treating 71 children with gunshot wounds. Those figures were disputed by the GHF, which told Devex that MSF was “amplifying a disinformation campaign orchestrated by the Hamas-linked Gaza Health Ministry.” The meeting came after weeks of U.S. support for the GHF, including a $30 million contribution to the organization in late June, which was blasted by Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland, and others in his party. Last month, Van Hollen stated the Trump administration had “exempted GHF” from the types of comprehensive audits typically required for groups receiving USAID funding for the first time. “In proceeding with this funding, the administration also ignored its own requirements for vetting implementers of U.S. assistance,” Van Hollen and other senators wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, noting that an internal assessment raising concerns about GHF’s proposal was ignored. But the same day that the U.N. meeting was held, Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, said that the GHF would soon be scaling up its operations — telling Fox News that GHF would be boosting the number of distribution sites from four to 16, and begin operating them “as much as 24 hours a day.” “The president has been telling us he wants food into the hands of hungry people, but he wants it in a way that it doesn’t get into the hands of Hamas,” Huckabee said. “That’s exactly what we did when we stood up GHF.” While “fuller collaboration was raised” in Wednesday’s meeting, according to the email, it was done “without clarity on what that would mean” — leaving many organizations to wonder what might change in Gaza, and how the U.N. was planning to engage with the GHF going forward. UNOCHA and InterAction did not respond to a request for comment, but the ICRC told Devex that it was not planning on collaborating with the GHF, though as an independent humanitarian organization, the ICRC communicates “with all the relevant actors.” “This does not mean we endorse the actions of any individuals or groups,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “We have consistently said that ICRC cannot work under any aid mechanism that contravenes international humanitarian law and the core humanitarian principles of impartiality, humanity, and independence.”