EXPLAINER: Why is U.S.-Israel private aid plan so controversial?

A U.S.-backed humanitarian organization will start work in Gaza by the end of May under a heavily-criticized aid distribution plan, but has asked Israel to let the United Nations and others resume deliveries to Palestinians now until it is set up.

No humanitarian assistance has been delivered to Gaza since March 2, and a global hunger monitor has warned half a million people face starvation - a quarter of the population in the enclave where Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas have been at war since October 2023.

That plan was initiated by Israel and involves private companies - instead of the UN and aid groups - transporting aid into Gaza to a limited number of so-called secure distribution sites, which Israel said would be in Gaza's south.

So, who is the new aid group, why has its creation provoked an outcry, and what has been the international reaction to aid groups' statements that famine is likely in the enclave?

Who is the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation?

Israel has created a plan to use private companies instead of the UN and established aid groups to transport humanitarian assistance into Gaza.

The U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) will run the operation and plans to establish four so-called 'secure distribution sites', each built to continuously serve 300,000 people - a total of 1.2 million Gazans in the initial phase. 

The group says it will distribute "pre-packaged rations, hygiene kits, and medical supplies moved through tightly controlled corridors, monitored in real time to prevent diversion."

U.S. security firm UG Solutions and U.S.-based Safe Reach Solutions, which controls logistics and planning, would reportedly be involved.

Why is Israel bypassing the UN and established aid groups?

Israel has accused Hamas of stealing aid, which the group denies, and is blocking humanitarian deliveries to Gaza until Hamas releases all remaining hostages. 

In January 2024, Israel voted to ban the UN's Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) from operating within Israel and occupied East Jerusalem but it has continued to work in the encircled enclave.

Israel provided the U.S. government with a dossier of 12 UNRWA employees allegedly involved in Hamas's October 7, 2023, attacks on southern Israel. The agency fired 10 of the employees while the other two were confirmed dead. 

However, UNRWA later disputed some of the allegations, reporting in March 2024 that Israeli authorities had coerced several of its employees into falsely stating the agency's link to Hamas.

What do the UN and other agencies say?

The UN has raised concerns that a private aid operation would not stick to the long-held humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, independence and neutrality.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Israel's initial proposal risked "further controlling and callously limiting aid down to the last calorie and grain of flour."

U.N. aid chief Tom Fletcher described the plan as a "a cynical sideshow, a deliberate distraction" at the UN Security Council.

The International Committee of the Red Cross shared UN's concerns.

"Humanitarian aid should not be politicized nor militarized. The level of need among civilians in Gaza right now is overwhelming, and aid needs to be allowed to enter immediately and without impediment," said ICRC spokesperson Steve Dorsey.

In a letter to Israel on Wednesday, the foundation's executive director, Jake Wood, sought to address some of the concerns. He said the foundation would not share any personally identifiable information of aid recipients with Israel.

In a separate statement, GHF said Israel has agreed to expand the number of distribution sites "to serve the entire population of Gaza, and to find solutions for the distribution of aid to civilians who are unable to reach a SDS location."

This week, the UK, France, Slovenia, Greece and Denmark issued a joint statement stating their concern at the plan which read: "We cannot support any model that places political or military objectives above the needs of civilians. Or that undermines the UN and other partners' ability to operate independently."

What is the current humanitarian situation in Gaza?

Aid groups report shortages of food, safe water and other items including medicine and shelter supplies. 

Global hunger monitor The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said 500,000 people in the Gaza Strip face starvation.

The IPC forecasts 2.1 million people across Gaza - roughly the entire population - would likely experience high levels of acute food insecurity by the end of September.

World Health Organization (WHO) representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory Rik Peeperkorn said he had seen children who looked years younger than their age and visited a north Gaza hospital where over 20 percent of children screened suffered from acute malnutrition.

For famine to be declared, at least 20 percent of the population must be suffering extreme food shortages.

What does the international community say about the humanitarian situation?

China (Fu Cong, Ambassador to the UN): "Israel must fulfil its obligations as the occupying power under international humanitarian law by immediately lifting the blockade and restoring full access to supplies."

Germany (Chancellor Friedrich Merz): "We expect them (Israel) to provide better humanitarian assistance to the population in Gaza, whose suffering we see, particularly that of the children, women, and elderly." 

Russia (President Vladimir Putin) described the situation in Palestine as "tragic events" and "a humanitarian catastrophe", calling the Israeli ban on aid deliveries "especially worrying."

France (President Emmanuel Macron): "I saw all the aid that France and other countries sent, and it was blocked by the Israelis. And I say this - what the Netanyahu government is doing today is unacceptable."

UK (Prime Minister Keir Starmer): "The situation in Gaza is simply intolerable and getting worse, and we are working with other leaders urgently to bring about a rapid and unimpeded flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza."

U.S. (President Donald Trump): "People are starving, and we're going to help them get some food. Hamas is making it impossible because they're taking everything that's brought in."

Italy (Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni): "I have always recalled the urgency of finding a way to end the hostilities and respect international law and international humanitarian law."

Canada (Foreign Minister Anita Anand): "We cannot allow the continued use of food as a political tool. Over 50,000 people have died as a result of the aggression caused against the Palestinians and the Gazan people in Palestine."