Consulting giant abandons US-Israeli aid scheme as death mounts

As the hunger crisis in Gaza continues, reports are mounting of the disastrous U.S.-Israeli aid distribution system. Amid the chaos, one of its key architects has abandoned the operation raising fears that aid efforts might collapse when they are needed most.

The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), one of the world’s largest consulting firms, recalled its team from Tel Aviv on May 30 following widespread criticism over the organization’s aid delivery and distribution model, reports the Middle East Eye.

In mid-May, international pressure forced Israel to slightly ease its brutal blockade of Gaza after nearly three months, allowing a limited amount of humanitarian aid into the famine-stricken territory. The blockade, imposed as part of Israel’s war against the Palestinian de facto authority Hamas, has driven UN officials to deem Gaza “the hungriest place on earth.”

Instead of UN-administered aid, Israel coined the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a U.S-backed organization set up to administer aid under high security to avoid any aid diversion to Hamas.

According to UN officials, it has become a “death trap” for starving civilians in the blockaded territory. The day after the GFH’s launch, as thousands of Palestinians lined up at the aid site, Israeli forces opened fire, killing three Palestinians and injuring dozens.

On June 1, at least 40 people were once again shot dead by Israeli forces, while 150 were injured at a GHF site in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

Commissioner General of the UN’s Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini posted on X: “This humiliating system has forced thousands of hungry and desperate people to walk for tens of miles to an area that’s all but pulverized due to heavy bombardment.”

A spokesperson from the BCG affirmed that the company had terminated its contract with the US-Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). The firm had been advising on the payment and procurement for four aid distribution centers in southern Gaza.

While it claimed its involvement was pro bono, according to a source familiar with internal operations, BCG allegedly submitted invoices well over $1 million per month.

Three individuals connected to both GHF and BCG told the Post that the consultants’ exit will leave a vacuum that will be difficult to fill. With no clear succession plan, aid efforts may stall just as humanitarian needs continue to spike.

Middle East Eye/ Maghrebi