Jake Wood, the executive director of the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, or GHF, resigned on Sunday, just one day before the private humanitarian organization’s food aid distribution plan for Gaza launched, saying that it is “not possible” to implement the initiative “while also strictly adhering to humanitarian principles.” On Monday, David Burke, the chief operating officer of GHF, also resigned, according to The Washington Post.
The departures deal a major blow to the controversial humanitarian operation, which the Trump administration publicly supported and worked to organize. It also raises further concerns about the ability to respond to one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. Gaza’s entire population of 2.1 million people is at risk of famine due to Israel’s blockade of the territory, according to United Nations estimates, with 1 in 5 already facing starvation.
In a statement on Monday, GHF said that it “commenced operations today, delivering truckloads of food to its Secure Distribution Sites, where distribution to the Gazan people began. More trucks with aid will be delivered tomorrow, with the flow of aid increasing each day.” The organization has named John Acree, a former USAID official who led a regional humanitarian and emergency response program in Latin America and the Caribbean, as the interim executive director.