The head of a controversial humanitarian organisation set up to transport aid to Gaza has resigned over concerns about its independence.
Jake Wood, a former US marine, had led the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) for the past two months but now says he cannot continue.
The foundation is set to start delivering aid into Gaza on Monday and claims it will reach a million Palestinians by the end of the week.
But there are questions over who is funding it and how it will work. It has been set up as part of an Israeli plan – rather than a UN distribution effort.
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The news came as an Israeli strike on a Gaza shelter left at least 36 people dead, with more victims feared trapped under rubble.
In a statement on Sunday, Mr Wood said the foundation cannot adhere to the “humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence, which I will not abandon”.
Earlier this month, Mr Wood wrote a letter to Israel, saying the foundation would not share any personally identifiable information of aid recipients with Israel.
In a statement, the GHF’s board said it was “disappointed” by Mr Wood’s departure, but vowed not to be deterred from efforts to reach the enclave’s entire population in coming weeks.
“We plan to scale rapidly to serve the full population in the weeks ahead,” it said.
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UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF, which is backed by the US but is believed by some to be an Israeli idea following reports over the weekend.
The aid groups have argued that the GHF would force even more displacement of Palestinians, fail to meet local needs and violate humanitarian principles that prohibit a warring party from controlling humanitarian assistance.
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Israel, which suggested a similar plan earlier this year, has said it will not be involved in distributing the aid but supported the plan and would provide security.
It says aid deliveries into Gaza are taken by Hamas instead of going to civilians. Aid groups say there is no evidence of this happening on a systemic basis.
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Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza began when the militant group stormed across the border into Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and abducting 251 others.
Israel’s military response has flattened large areas of Gaza and killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count.
Middle East correspondent
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has been controversial from the start.
It has been set up to provide food parcels to Gaza, from four hubs – three in the south and one in the centre.
Israel says it is a way of getting aid to civilians whilst ensuring it doesn’t end up in Hamas hands. They have promised to deliver 300 million meals within the first 90 days of operation.
Aid organisations have refused to co-operate with it, questioning its credibility, independence, and motives and suggesting it might even breach international law.
It’s not clear where the funding for the foundation comes from and although it has been described as US-backed, investigations in the Washington Post and New York Times over the weekend alleged it was in fact an Israeli idea.
Senior, respected humanitarians, like David Beasley, the former head of the World Food Programme, have declined to put their names behind it.
The positioning of the hubs has led to accusations of aiding ethnic cleansing by luring Gazans to the south if they want to get food.
The security is being provided by private contractors – mercenaries – whose rules of engagement aren’t clear.
Now, in a bombshell announcement on the eve of the foundation becoming operational, the chief executive Jake Wood has resigned.
Nevertheless, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has announced it will begin working today.
