The head of a US-backed private humanitarian organisation that is tasked with distributing aid in Gaza using an Israeli-initiated plan has resigned, saying that the operation could not fulfil its mission in a way that adhered to “humanitarian principles”.
Jake Wood, the executive director, announced his resignation in a statement from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), adding fresh uncertainty to the operation’s future.
The foundation, which has been based in Geneva since February, has vowed to distribute 300m meals in its first 90 days of operation. But the United Nations and traditional aid agencies have already said they will not cooperate with the group, fearing it violates “fundamental humanitarian principles” and breaches international law.
The move comes as Israel intensified its air campaign in Gaza in recent days. Israeli strikes killed at least 52 people in the Gaza Strip on Monday, including 31 in a school turned shelter that was struck as people slept, igniting their belongings, according to local health officials.
The strike on the school in the Daraj neighbourhood of Gaza City also wounded more than 55 people, said Fahmy Awad, the head of the ministry’s emergency service. He said a man and his five children were among the dead.
Awad said the school was hit three times while people slept, setting their belongings ablaze. Footage circulating online showed rescuers struggling to extinguish fires and recovering charred remains.
The military said it targeted a militant command and control centre inside the school that Hamas and Islamic Jihad used to gather intelligence for attacks. Israel blames civilian deaths on Hamas because it operates in residential areas.
On Sunday, Israeli attacks killed at least 38 more people, health officials in the Palestinian territory have said, bringing the death toll to more than 100 over the weekend.
The fresh offensive, which comes after the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, ended a ceasefire with Hamas in March, has been condemned by several European leaders who accused Israel of starving millions of civilians that are facing facing the risk of famine.
Netanyahu said his plans for private US companies, such as the GHF, to deliver aid would prevent a humanitarian crisis, despite aid agencies and many governments saying such a crisis already exists.
The GHF has emerged as international pressure mounts on Israel as malnutrition is spreading in Gaza, medics and aid workers in the devastated Palestinian territory have warned, with dozens of children dying from starvation in recent days.
Wood said in the statement: “Two months ago, I was approached about leading GHF’s efforts because of my experience in humanitarian operations. Like many others around the world, I was horrified and heartbroken at the hunger crisis in Gaza and, as a humanitarian leader, I was compelled to do whatever I could to help alleviate the suffering.”
Wood stressed that he was “proud of the work I oversaw, including developing a pragmatic plan that could feed hungry people, address security concerns about diversion, and complement the work of longstanding NGOs in Gaza”.
But, he said, it had become “clear that it is not possible to implement this plan while also strictly adhering to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence, which I will not abandon”.
In a statement, the foundation’s board said it was disappointed by Wood’s departure, but vowed not to be deterred from efforts to reach the strip’s entire population in coming weeks. “Our trucks are loaded and ready to go,” it said, adding that GHF would begin direct aid delivery in Gaza from Monday to reach more than 1 million Palestinians by the end of the week.
A spokesperson for the US state department said it remained supportive of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s plans to begin to deliver aid soon.
Despite mounting international pressure that pushed Israel to lift a blockade on aid supplies in the face of warnings of looming famine, Netanyahu said last week that Israel would take control of the whole of Gaza.
Wood called on Israel “to significantly expand the provision of aid into Gaza through all mechanisms” while also urging “all stakeholders to continue to explore innovative new methods for the delivery of aid, without delay, diversion, or discrimination”.
UN officials have said the foundation’s aid distribution plans would only foment forced relocation of Palestinians and more violence. That plan, which had been set to begin by the end of May, was initiated by Israel and involves private companies – instead of the UN and aid groups who have handled Palestinian aid for decades – transporting aid into Gaza to a limited number of so-called secure distribution sites, which Israel said would be in Gaza’s south.
Heads of household would be expected to collect boxes weighing up to 20kg with several days’ supply of food and basic hygiene items like soap for their families. There is no provision for those too sick or weakened by famine to walk long distances across Gaza’s ruined landscape with heavy loads.
“From what we have understood, the plan would increase the ongoing suffering of children and families in the Gaza Strip,” UN children’s fund spokesperson Jonathan Crickx said earlier this month.
“How is a mother of four children, who has lost her husband, going to carry 20kg back to her makeshift tent, sometimes several kilometres away?” Crickx said. “The most vulnerable people, including the elderly, people with disabilities, the sick and wounded, and orphans, will face huge challenges to access aid.”
Israel has vowed to seize control of the entire Gaza and keep fighting until Hamas is destroyed or disarmed, and until it returns the remaining 58 hostages – a third of them believed to be alive – from the 7 October 2023 attack that ignited the war.
An Israeli official dismissed the latest ceasefire proposal from Hamas, saying no responsible government could accept such an agreement. It rejected the assertion by Hamas that the deal matched one proposed by the US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
