Humanitarian

The controversial US-Israeli backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is closing operations, after five months of massacres, stampedes and chaos. Despite that, the GHF says it did its job “successfully.” Soraya Lennie explains the group’s chaotic legacy.

The controversial, US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) says it is winding down its aid operations in the Palestinian territory, after almost six months.

The organisation had already suspended its three food distribution sites in Gaza after the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel took effect six weeks ago.

The GHF aimed to bypass the UN as the main supplier of aid to Gaza’s population. UN and other aid agencies refused to co-operate with its system, saying it was unethical and unsafe.

Hundreds of Palestinians were killed while seeking food amid chaotic scenes near GHF’s sites, mostly by Israeli fire, according to the UN. Israel said its troops fired warning shots.

The GHF said on Monday that it was winding down operations now because of the “successful completion of its emergency mission”, with a total of three million packages containing the equivalent of more than 187 million meals delivered to Palestinians.

The GHF’s executive director, Jon Acree, also said the US-led Civil-Military Coordination Centre (CMCC) – which has been set up to help implement US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan – would be “adopting and expanding the model GHF piloted”.

US state department spokesperson Tommy Piggott wrote on X: “GHF’s model, in which Hamas could no longer loot and profit from stealing aid, played a huge role in getting Hamas to the table and achieving a ceasefire.”

Hamas – which denies stealing aid – welcomed the closure of the GHF, Reuters reported. A spokesman for said GHF should be held accountable for the harm it caused to Palestinians.

“We call upon all international human rights organisations to ensure that it does not escape accountability after causing the death and injury of thousands of Gazans and covering up the starvation policy practised by the (Israeli) government,” Hazem Qassem wrote on his Telegram channel.

The GHF began operations in Gaza on 26 May, a week after Israel had partially eased a total blockade on aid and commercial deliveries to Gaza that lasted 11 weeks and caused severe shortages of essential supplies. Three months later, a famine was declared in Gaza City.

The GHF’s food distribution sites in southern and central Gaza were operated by US private security contractors and located inside Israeli military zones.

The UN and its partners said the system contravened the fundamental humanitarian principles of neutrality, impartiality and independence, and that channelling desperate people into militarised zones was inherently unsafe.

The UN’s human rights office said it recorded the killing of at least 859 Palestinians seeking food in the vicinity of GHF sites between 26 May and 31 July. Another 514 people were killed near the routes of UN and other aid convoys, it added. Most of them were killed by the Israeli military, according to the office.

The Israeli military said its troops had fired warning shots at people who approached them in a “threatening” manner.

The GHF said there were no shootings at the aid sites and accused the UN of using “false and misleading” statistics from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.

The GHF’s future had been uncertain since Hamas and Israel agreed a ceasefire deal to implement the first phase of Trump’s peace plan.

It said aid distribution would take place “without interference from the two parties through the United Nations and its agencies, and the Red Crescent, in addition to other international institutions not associated in any manner” with Hamas and Israel.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Monday that the GHF’s shutdown would have “no impact” on its operations “because we never worked with them”.

He also said that while more aid was getting into Gaza since the ceasefire took effect on 10 October, it was “not enough to meet all the needs” of the 2.1 million population.

Over the past decade, we have seen again how the suffering experienced by the people of Gaza continues in the midst of global political forces that are silent on the sidelines. The Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) as a new form of global solidarity emerged and was formed to turn a blind eye to this injustice. This movement itself sails across the country’s borders carrying messages of humanity and peaceful resistance as a form of opposition to Israel’s blockade policy that closes Palestinian land, air, and sea access to the Gaza Strip (Global Sumud Flotilla, 2025). The failure of formal diplomacy to open humanitarian channels has led international civil society to take the initiative to take over the role to show the world that now geopolitical conditions no longer limit and bind global solidarity to take steps on humanitarian issues like this.

The author considers that the Global Sumud Flotilla movement is a real representation of the practice of transnationalism, where this movement is a network of cross-border communities that move together with the same goals and basic human values. The moral, social, and political dimensions are all combined into one in the GSF; this is a concrete example of the active role of global civil society in humanitarian issues in Palestine. For this reason, the author will focus this discussion on three main aspects, namely the origins and actors behind the formation of the GSF movement, the human values and transnational solidarity that underlie this movement, and its relevance in the era of globalization, which is a manifestation of transnational society.

Discussion

The history of the formation of the Global Sumud Flotilla movement is rooted in an international network that has also tried to penetrate the blockade of Gaza through the sea route since 2010, namely the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) movement. Based on information from the official website of GSF (2025), there are more than 30 organizations from various parts of the world that are involved in this initiative, including Europe, Latin America, and Asia. It is not because of the state’s agenda or political interests, but the reason they sail is because of the humanitarian mission they bring, namely “Break the siege, break the silence.” There are various actors who participate in this movement, ranging from humanitarian activists and civil society leaders to journalists anddoctors, so this proves that the global community can also collaborate or cooperate outside the state structure. Keck and Sikkink (1998) put forward the theory of transnational advocacy networks; within the framework of this theory can be a strong example of how this network of cross-border activism uses their moral solidarity to oppose state power.

The main value that underlies or is the foundation of this movement is an Arabic term, namely “Sumud,” which means constancy or fortitude. Well, in this Palestinian context, sumud reflects the determination of the Palestinian people who are trying to survive and protect their homeland even in the midst of the colonial siege and violence that constantly hits them. This value was then adopted by the global community that is a member of the GSF as a form of symbolic solidarity that underlies their movement so that it is not only the Palestinian people who have constancy but also the common spirit of humanity who are moving to oppose and reject the injustices that occur. GSF volunteers stated that in this mission they not only brought the issue of aid but also defended the dignity of humanity in the face of the ruling military power (Harakah Daily, 2025).

            The practice of transnationalism in the GSF is very clear, and we can see it in how this movement operates. All coordination is carried out in full by global civil society networks through various mechanisms, such as donations, digital campaigns, and international advocacy, so no single country is the main leader or sponsor in this movement. In breaking through the blockade of Gaza, global civil society faces various major challenges, but the presence of this GSF shows us all how this cross-border collaborative movement can suppress world public opinion. Every voyage they make can be used as an alternative space for diplomacy or citizen diplomacy, which emphasizes the position of the global community, which plays an important role in encouraging international humanitarian issues.

In addition to bringing physical aid, such as food, medical equipment, clothing, and so on, the GSF also plays a powerful symbolic role that is no less important. For example, when their ship was attacked by the Israeli navy, which occurred in October 2025, these volunteers did not show their fear of the Israeli navy (Kumparan, 2025). Instead, they showed and affirmed their determination to continue sailing to give freedom to the Palestinian people, especially in the Gaza Strip. The attitude shown by these volunteers reflects how the sense of transnational solidarity can transcend and eliminate their fear of repression. So, these people are actually not just volunteers but also a real form of global moral resistance to structural injustice.

The GSF movement also showed the world an important shift in international political practice. We can see that in humanitarian issues, which used to only move and become the realm of state diplomacy, it has now changed with the takeover by a global civil society network that has a common vision. The biggest challenge for the international community in dealing with this problem lies not only in the physical blockade of Gaza but also in the moral blockade that occurs here, which makes many countries reluctant to take action (Dall’Asta, 2025). For this reason, the GSF is here as the antithesis of state passivity, which shows countries and the whole world that if the citizens of the world unite and take collective action, then they can break through the global political impasse, as happened to the state.

From an academic point of view, the Sumud Flotilla has actually expanded the meaning of transnationalism, as explained by Scholte (2005) in his book entitled “Globalization: A Critical Introduction,” that social relations that cross national borders are built on the basis of shared values and goals, not because of national sovereignty. The GSF here affirms the existence of a global civil society that works in parallel with the nation-state system. In addition, this kind of cross-border solidarity can create a transnational form of humanity that is arguably more organic, so it means that the world community forms a network of collective action to deal with the ongoing global crisis.

Although this impact has not been able to end the blockade of Gaza, the existence of the GSF itself has had a great moral impact. This movement revived our awareness that in fact world politics does not only belong to the elite and the state but also belongs to all of us, belonging to the citizens of the world who care about it. Not only that, this movement also shows how a human value is able to penetrate walls or boundaries in geopolitics. This kind of initiative plays a very important role in building global awareness of what is happening in Palestine, that the struggle of the Palestinian people is a universal humanitarian struggle (Saleem & Khurshid, 2025).

Conclusion

The three arguments above, which focus on the origins and actors behind the GSF movement, the underlying and foundational humanitarian values, and its relevance as a manifestation of this transnational society, have shown that the Global Sumud Flotilla movement is a tangible form of cross-border solidarity on humanitarian issues in Palestine. This movement confirms to the world that the moral strength possessed by global civil society can be a real alternative to diplomacy that has repeatedly failed to uphold justice. Thus, we can conclude that the Global Sumud Flotilla is not only a symbol of humanitarian shipping but also a form of real representation of the birth of a transnational society that plays an active role in fighting for global humanity. And it also reminds us that true humanity does not know the state border but is something that is born or created from the collective consciousness to continue to sail against the injustice that exists in this world.

IOM chief calls for ceasefire to allow aid groups to reach Sudanese civilians trapped in war-torn Darfur region.

The head of the United Nations’ migration agency has called for a ceasefire and a humanitarian corridor to help tens of thousands of civilians trapped in el-Fasher, the city in Sudan’s Darfur region that fell to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) last month.

Amy Pope, director-general of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that “the primary concern is getting access” to residents who have been largely cut off from humanitarian aid and services in el-Fasher.

“When humanitarian actors are themselves at risk – when they’re killed, when they’re shot, when they’re detained – we can’t get the people what they need to survive,” Pope said.

“The primary issue is ensuring that there is a ceasefire, a humanitarian corridor, so that aid groups can bring in that aid to the civilians who are very much caught in the middle.”

Human rights groups have accused the RSF, which has been battling the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) for control of Sudan since April 2023, of committing widescale massacres in its capture of el-Fasher on October 26.

While thousands of residents remain stuck in el-Fasher, the capital of Sudan’s North Darfur state, nearly 90,000 others have fled since the RSF’s takeover, according to the latest IOM figures.

On Wednesday, Pope said displaced families have described dangerous journeys out of el-Fasher.

“They spoke about seeing dead bodies as they walked. They spoke about having to create makeshift trenches to avoid being shot at, or being harmed by the drones. They spoke of unspeakable, unbearable, sexual trauma [and] sexual abuse,” she said.

“The stories are really harrowing, and they’re happening now even as we speak.”

Her comments come a day after the IOM warned that humanitarian aid efforts in Sudan were “on the brink of collapse” due to continued insecurity and a lack of funding.

“Warehouses are nearly empty, aid convoys face significant insecurity, and access restrictions continue to prevent the delivery of sufficient aid,” the agency said in a statement, noting that violence is also spreading to other parts of the country.

Nearly 39,000 people have fled intense fighting in North Kordofan state, east of el-Fasher, between October 26 and November 9, the IOM said.

Meanwhile, Anna Mutavati, the regional director for East and Southern Africa at UN Women, told reporters this week that women and girls who fled el-Fasher now face serious threats of sexual violence in displacement camps around the city.

“What the women tell us is that … every step that they’ve taken – to fetch water, to collect firewood, or to stand in a food line – is carrying a high risk of sexual violence,” Mutavati said during a news conference in Geneva on Tuesday.

“There is mounting evidence that rape is being deliberately and systematically used as a weapon of war,” she added.

“Women’s bodies … have just become a crime scene in Sudan.”

A senior Sudanese diplomat has accused the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of committing war crimes in the country’s North Darfur state, as survivors who escaped the city of el-Fasher recounted mass killings and sexual assault by the paramilitary troops.

Sudan’s ambassador to Egypt, Imadeldin Mustafa Adawi, made the allegations on Sunday as he accused the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of helping the RSF paramilitary group in the ongoing civil war.

The Gulf state denies the claim.

Adawi’s remarks followed an earlier statement by Sudanese Prime Minister Kamil Idris, who told the Swiss newspaper Blick that the RSF should be tried in the international courts.

But Kamil rejected the “illegal” idea of foreign troops being deployed to his country, which has been ravaged by a civil war between the RSF and the Sudanese army since April 2023.

The calls for action come a week after the RSF seized the capital of North Darfur, el-Fasher, after an 18-month siege and starvation campaign, resulting in thousands of reported civilian deaths. The city was the Sudanese army’s last stronghold in the region.

In the days since its capture, survivors have reported mass executions, pillaging, rape and other atrocities, sparking an international outcry.

The Sudanese government said that at least 2,000 people were killed, but witnesses said the real number could be much higher.

Tens of thousands of civilians are still believed to be trapped in the city.

“The government of Sudan is calling on the international community to act immediately and effectively rather than just make statements of condemnation,” Adawi told reporters during a news conference in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.

The envoy urged the world to designate the RSF as a “terrorist” organisation, as well as condemn RSF “for committing massacres amounting to genocide” and denounce “its official regional financier and supporter, the United Arab Emirates”.

He also said that Sudan would not take part in talks led by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United States and the UAE to end the conflict if the latter remains part of the negotiations.

“We do not consider them [the UAE] as a mediator and someone reliable on the issue,” Adawi stressed.

Mass killings, sexual assault

The UAE, however, denies allegations that it is supplying the RSF with weapons.

At a forum in Bahrain’s capital, Manama, an Emirati presidential adviser said that the Gulf state wants to help end the war, and acknowledged that regional and international powers could have done more to prevent the conflict in Sudan.

“We all made the mistake, when the two generals who are fighting the civil war today overthrow the civilian government. That was, in my opinion, looking back, a critical mistake,” Anwar Gargash said.

Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the US, as mediators, have all condemned the mass killings and called for increased humanitarian assistance.

As the world’s worst humanitarian crisis further spirals into chaos, residents who managed to escape el-Fasher recalled their harrowing experience.

Adam Yahya, who fled with four of his children, told Al Jazeera that his wife was killed in an RSF drone strike shortly before el-Fasher fell. He said that he and his children barely had time to mourn before they found themselves on the run from the paramilitary group.

“The streets were full of dead people. We made it to one of the sand barriers set up by the RSF. They were shooting at people, men, women and children, with machineguns. I heard one saying, ‘Kill them all, leave no one alive’,” Yahya recounted.

“We ran back and hid. At night, I slowly crept out with my children and crossed the barrier. We walked to a village, where someone took pity on us and gave us a ride to the camp here.”

Another 45-year-old woman in the displacement camp of Al Dabbah in Sudan’s Northern State told Al Jazeera that RSF fighters sexually assaulted her.

The woman, who only gave her first name, Rasha, said she left her daughters at home when the RSF seized the army headquarters on Sunday and went to look for her sons.

“The RSF asked me where I was going, and I told them I’m looking for my sons. They forced me into a house and started sexually assaulting me. I told them I’m old enough to be their mother. I cried,” she said.

“They then let me go, and I took my daughters and fled, leaving my sons behind. I don’t know where they are now,” she said.

“We just fled and ran past dead bodies till we crossed the barrier and reached a small village outside el-Fasher,” she added.

Aid agencies, meanwhile, said that thousands of people are unaccounted for after fleeing el-Fasher.

Caroline Bouvard, the Sudan country director for Solidarites International, said that only a few hundred more people have turned up in Tawila, the closest town to el-Fasher, in the past few days.

“Those are very small numbers considering the number of people who were stuck in el-Fasher. We keep hearing feedback that people are stuck on the roads and in different villages that are unfortunately still inaccessible due to security reasons,” she said.

Bouvard said there is a “complete blackout” in terms of information coming out of el-Fasher after the RSF takeover, and that aid agencies are getting their information from surrounding areas, where up to 15,000 people are believed to be stuck.

“There’s a strong request for advocacy with the different parties to ensure that humanitarian aid can reach these people or that, at least, we can send in trucks to bring them back to Tawila,” she added.

Many people remain unaccounted for while camps and towns surrounding el-Fasher are overwhelmed too.

Millions of people across war-ravaged Sudan, particularly its western parts, remain in dire need of humanitarian aid as key generals show no intention of ending the civil war amid ongoing violence and killings in North Darfur’s el-Fasher.

International aid agencies called on Sunday on the Sudanese armed forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to facilitate increased entry of aid while a roadmap by mediators has failed to produce a ceasefire so far.

A week after the paramilitary force seized el-Fasher, the state capital of North Darfur, after an 18-month siege and starvation campaign, the situation remains catastrophic.

Tens of thousands of civilians are still believed to be trapped in the final major city in the western region of Darfur to fall to the RSF while thousands more are unaccounted for after fleeing el-Fasher.

Only a fraction of those who fled on foot from el-Fasher have made it to Tawila, a town roughly 50km (30 miles) away.

Speaking to Al Jazeera from Tawila, an official with a France-based aid agency said only a few hundred more people have turned up in the town over the past few days.

“Those are very small numbers considering the number of people who were stuck in el-Fasher. We keep hearing feedback that people are stuck on the roads and in different villages that are unfortunately still inaccessible due to security reasons,” said Caroline Bouvard, Sudan country director for Solidarites International.

Bouvard said there is a “complete blackout” in terms of information coming out of el-Fasher after the RSF takeover and aid agencies are getting their information from surrounding areas where up to 15,000 people are believed to be stuck.

“There’s a strong request for advocacy with the different parties to ensure that humanitarian aid can reach these people or that at least we can send in trucks to bring them back to Tawila.”

Many of the people who have managed to survive numerous RSF checkpoints and patrols to reach Tawila have reported seeing mass executions, torture, beatings and sexual violence. Some were abducted by armed men and forced to pay a ransom on pain of death.

Many more have been forcibly displaced to the al-Dabbah refugee camp in Sudan’s Northern State. Some have been there for weeks.

Reporting from the camp, Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan said over the past few days, more displaced people have poured in from el-Fasher, exacerbating the humanitarian situation.

People are in need of food, clean water, medication and shelter as many are sleeping out in the open. Thousands more could turn to the camp as well as other surrounding areas over the coming days as people flee the slaughter by RSF fighters.

The United States, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Egypt, as mediators, have all condemned the mass killings and called for increased humanitarian assistance.

“The RSF must stop engaging in retribution and ethnic violence; the tragedy in El Geneina must not be repeated,” the US Department of State said in a statement on Saturday in reference to the massacre of Masalit people in West Darfur’s capital.

“There isn’t a viable military solution, and external military support only prolongs the conflict. The United States urges both parties to pursue a negotiated path to end the suffering of the Sudanese people,” it said in a post on X.

US lawmakers have also called for action from Washington in the aftermath of the el-Fasher takeover by the RSF.

Republican Senator Jim Risch of Idaho, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on Friday called for the US to officially designate the RSF as a “foreign terrorist organisation”.