British Institute of International and Comparative Law - 24 July 2025

"The ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza constitutes a stress test for the core protections under International Humanitarian Law (IHL). There is mounting evidence that its rules are being disregarded. Central to this is the sustained blockade and the deliberate restriction of food, medical supplies, fuel and humanitarian access to a population which, according to one UN official, has effectively turned Gaza into a 'penal colony'. Recent practices - including/from the total blockade and destruction of food infrastructure to the introduction of a privatised aid distribution scheme by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) - are in breach of IHL rules and constitute war crimes. The outsourcing of aid delivery to a militarised and for-profit organization raises serious concerns about the undermining of legal safeguards under IHL."

[...]
"The militarisation and commodification of humanitarian aid: The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF)

"On 23 July 2025, over 100 NGOs have warned of 'mass starvation' in Gaza accusing the Israeli government for it. Leading international law scholars describe Gaza siege as a 'text-book case of genocide'. After October 2023, Israel imposed a total blockade on food, fuel, and supplies to Gaza for months. The UN and international organisations have stated that Israel is 'trying to use food as a weapon' and that using collective punishment and starvation as a weapon of war has made Gaza 'practically uninhabitable'.

"[...]The GHF is a secretive start-up private organisation committed to delivering food aid in Gaza 'safely and directly'. The GHF was launched in late May 2025, shortly after Israel imposed a total blockade on all aid supplies into the Gaza strip for nearly three months. The GHF is headquartered in Delaware, US, with a now-defunct branch in Switzerland which was dissolved on administrative grounds - including failure to meet transparency standards and compliance with Swiss regulations. In addition to food distribution, GHF is also working on a multibillion dollar project to establish 'transit camps' inside and outside Gaza, which it brands as 'humanitarian transit areas'. The UN and major international aid organisations have condemned the scheme for weaponising humanitarian relief. The organisation is currently led by interim executive director John Acree, replacing Jake Wood after he resigned on grounds of GHF being unable to uphold IHL principles of neutrality, impartiality and independence. More than 170 NGOs are accusing the GHF to operate in violations of IHL and are calling for it to be shut down.

"Promoted and backed by Israel and the US, GHF uses private security and logistic companies to deliver aid into Gaza. Reportedly, these include UG Solutions and Safe Reach Solutions, the latter founded by former CIA paramilitary officer Philip F. Reilly who also served with Constellis - the parent company of the private military firm Blackwater. To date, GHF has not disclosed its donor lists or published financial reports. It has declined to identify which government provided it with USD100 million in start-up money although funding for the effort reportedly comes from the Israeli government itself. The Trump administration announced in July, after already hundreds of reported deaths that it would donate USD 30million to the organisation. This was issued without standard USAID audits or anti-terror vetting.[...]Between the end of May and the end of July, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed, allegedly by Israeli security forces, while they were trying to access GHF food distribution sites - many more have been injured.

"Corporate complicity implies that corporations may be 'aiding' or 'abetting' violations perpetrated by States. International criminal law suggests that direct complicity requires intentional participation, but not necessarily an intention to do harm, only knowledge of foreseeable harmful effects. Arguably, harmful effects on the starving Palestinian population are foreseeable as result of the GHF's design and operations A corporation or individual businessperson who knowingly assists a State in violating customary international law may be complicit in such a violation[...]"