Aid centres run by the Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF), an organisation supported by the United States and Israel, will be temporarily closed on Wednesday for repairs.
“On June 4, distribution centres will be closed for repairs, reorganisation and efficiency improvements,” the GHF said in a statement on Facebook. The distribution of humanitarian aid will resume on Thursday.
The Israeli army has confirmed the temporary closure.
“Tomorrow (Wednesday), movement on roads leading to distribution centres, which are considered combat zones, is prohibited,” Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee wrote on social media.
Officially a private organisation with opaque funding, GHF began operations on May 26 after Israel completely halted supplies to Gaza for more than two months, prompting warnings of mass starvation. But GHF’s first week of operations, during which it said it distributed more than seven million food rations, was marred by criticism.
The Israeli military has been accused of firing on a crowd of civilians rushing to collect humanitarian aid parcels near GHF facilities. Israeli authorities and the GHF, which uses US security services under contract, deny that such an incident took place.
The UN and major humanitarian organisations have refused to co-operate with the fund over concerns that it is intended to serve Israel’s military objectives.
For decades, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, has led the distribution of aid in Gaza, with dozens of other organisations participating in efforts to assist the population.
