BCG quits consulting work with Gaza Humanitarian Foundation

Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has terminated its contract with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) following a turbulent initial week of operations that saw two top GHF executives resign amid allegations of Israel soldiers shooting into crowds of Palestinians seeking aid.

The GHF is a Delaware-based nonprofit that was founded in February and has the backing of the Trump administration and Israeli government. Most major humanitarian organizations, as well as the UN, have refused to participate in the GHF’s aid distribution efforts, saying that doing so would violate their rules of neutrality because the GHF appears designed to further Israel’s war aims.

The GHF’s model restricts food distribution to a few sites in southern Gaza and leaves Israel in control of how much aid enters the area.

The GHF’s aid distribution operations began on May 26 after an 11-week Israeli blockade of aid into Gaza. The foundation says it distributed more than 7 million meals during the first eight days of operations.

On Sunday, Gaza’s Health Ministry and the Red Cross say 27 people were killed by Israeli soldiers when they opened fire on a crowd near a GHF aid distribution site.

People familiar with GHF and BCG told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that the consulting firm on Friday withdrew its relevant project team from Tel Aviv. The Boston-headquartered strategy consultancy was hired last fall to help design the GHF program and run its business operations.

The anonymous sources told the WSJ that it would be difficult to continue running the GHF without the support of BCG consultants. The firm helped develop the program in collaboration with Israel and helped set prices for compensating and equipping the contractors that built the four distribution hubs in southern Gaza.

BCG says it provided the consulting work “pro bono,” while a source told the WSJ that the firm presented monthly invoices of more than $1 million.