4 days ago
Gaza Humanitarian Foundation accused of using charity logo without consent
US-based charity Rahma Worldwide has accused the newly created Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) of using photos of aid deliveries in Gaza containing its logo as part of its press pack without consent.
The charity told The Guardian it had allowed GHF to take "custody" of its aid; however, on its Facebook account, it said GHF "took custody", leading to confusion over whether Rahma had provided consent.
Rahma Worldwide is a Michigan-based charity that, according to its website, provides 'aid and assistance to the most vulnerable communities around the world'.
Rahma said in a Facebook statement that it had been waiting for four days to transport 4,000 boxes of food and 16 containers of wheat into Gaza, but the logistics organisation that was supposed to transport aid 'did not deliver.' It said that GHF took custody of the aid and asked Rahma to 'assist with distribution', but Rahma refused.
Rahma told The Guardian that it had asked for its logo to be removed from aid parcels.
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Photos of the logo in GHF's press materials include both Rahma and a partner organisation called Heroic Hearts, based in Illinois.
The controversial privately-run GHF, which is backed by Tel Aviv and Washington, was formed to oversee aid distribution across Gaza, with the intention of sidelining all existing structures, including the United Nations.
Most humanitarian organisations, including the UN, have distanced themselves from GHF, arguing that the group violates humanitarian principles by restricting aid to south and central Gaza, requiring Palestinians to walk long distances to collect aid, and only providing limited aid, among other critiques.
A former spokesperson for Unrwa has condemned the initiative as 'aid washing', a strategy meant to obscure the reality that 'people are being starved into submission'.
Rahma Worldwide's logo on GHF's press materials implies a formal partnership and lends credibility to GHF, which has no experience with aid distribution and is being shunned by aid agencies.
In the Facebook statement released on Thursday, Rahma said that it 'had noticed images of our food boxes with logo being distributed without Rahma's direct involvement".
'Rahma did not authorize such distribution and none of our team was allowed to participate in this process."
It also added that it did not 'support or permit the presence' of armed groups during the distribution of aid.
Siraj Muhammad, president of Heroic Hearts, told Middle East Eye in a statement that 'we are not in partnership with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and are not involved in the aid distribution currently circulating in the media that features our branding'.
'These food parcels were part of a one-time shipment prepared in collaboration with Rahma Worldwide. Heroic Hearts and Rahma arranged the shipment to support vulnerable families in Gaza and coordinated the required approvals and logistics to ensure proper delivery,' Muhammad added.
Muhammad said he regretted 'any confusion this may have caused'.
Chaotic aid roll-out
Chaos and violence erupted during GHF's first attempts to roll out aid at its distribution site in Rafah on Tuesday, as thousands of Palestinians, who have been denied food, water, and aid for 11 weeks, overwhelmed the distribution centre.
What's inside the boxes of aid being distributed in Gaza? Read More »
The Israeli military was accused of killing at least three civilians and injuring almost 50 others after it fired shots at people collecting aid, according to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. An Israeli military spokesperson said they were just firing 'warning shots'.
Aid that has been distributed so far has been considered inadequate, with food boxes containing just a handful of ingredients.
Jonathan Whittall, who heads the UN aid coordination office, said in a UN press release that 'People are being starved and then drip-fed in the most undignified way possible.'
In addition, the executive director of GHF resigned from his position earlier this week, saying that Israeli restrictions meant that GHF could not adhere to 'humanitarian principles'.
Controversy
GHF has been rocked with controversy since its inception. Under the group's proposals, more than two million of Gaza's residents will be forced to collect food from one of four 'secure distribution sites'.
None of the proposed sites are located in northern Gaza, a region that Israel has attacked and occupied, meaning those still living there will be forced to flee south to access life-saving aid. The deprivation of aid as a means to forcibly transfer a population is recognised as a crime against humanity.
GHF's official announcement about its plans made no mention of Israel's repeated attacks on pre-existing food distribution centres, bakeries and aid convoys, in which hundreds of Palestinians have been killed while trying to feed their families, or Israel's obstruction of the pre-existing humanitarian system.
Israel banned Unrwa, the primary UN aid agency for Palestinian refugees, from the country in January.
The UN's emergency relief coordinator, Tom Fletcher, has described the plans put forward by GHF as a 'fig leaf for further violence and displacement'.
Despite the January 2024 ruling by the International Court of Justice, which demanded immediate protection for civilians in Gaza and the widespread provision of humanitarian assistance, the situation has continued to deteriorate precipitously.
A January 2025 survey of 35 humanitarian organisations working in Gaza revealed an overwhelming consensus: 100 percent reported that the approach taken by Israel was either ineffective, inadequate or had systematically impeded aid delivery.
Rights groups say that warnings about mass malnutrition and the collapse of Gaza's health and social infrastructure have been ignored for years, and the imminent famine now afflicts a population that has been systematically deprived of food.
