The Financial Times: An American company has developed a plan to displace Palestinians from Gaza
The Financial Times newspaper, revealed on Sunday that an American company called the Boston Consulting Group signed a multi-million dollar contract to develop the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) project, and also worked on developing a plan to displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip under the guise of resettlement.
According to the Financial Times report, which shared the results of an investigation into the controversial initiative, the American firm Boston Consulting Group helped design and implement the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which is intended to replace the UN’s relief coordination mechanisms in Gaza.
The Financial Times reported that senior officials at Boston Consulting Group, including the company’s head of risk management and the head of social impact, were involved in the plan.
The plan involved more than 12 company employees working over a seven-month period under a contract worth more than $4 million, according to the newspaper, which didn’t identify the entity with which the company signed the contract.
The investigation’s most significant finding is that the American company prepared a financial model for a post-war reconstruction plan for Gaza, which included the relocation of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.
One scenario in this model calls for convincing more than 500,000 Palestinians to leave the Gaza Strip in exchange for a “relocation package” of $9,000 per person.
It’s expected that approximately 75% of them won’t return to Gaza.
The report also raises questions about the Boston Group’s role in developing the security aspect of the initiative.
Following criticism of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the American company issued a statement confirming the termination of its cooperation with the foundation and the cessation of relief activities in Gaza, according to the Financial Times.
According to the Financial Times, the company said, “The project’s main partner was informed of the categorical refusal and violation of our directives, and we disavow this action”.
The company’s statement also indicated that a formal review of the project was underway, adding, “During the investigation, one of the managers involved in the project was placed on temporary administrative leave”.
Far from the oversight of the United Nations and international organizations, Tel Aviv and Washington have been implementing a plan since May 27 to distribute limited “aid” through the so-called “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation”.
The Israeli army has been shelling Palestinians queuing for aid, forcing them to choose between starvation or being shot.
“The circumstances surrounding the foundation’s establishment and funding remain shrouded in mystery, as it’s known that Israel established it in coordination with American evangelicals and private security companies,” according to a report by Israeli Haaretz newspaper on June 27.
The report revealed at the time that Israeli military commanders directly instructed their forces to fire on Palestinian crowds to disperse them or remove them from aid distribution centers, even though they posed no threat.
The Financial Times newspaper quoted an unnamed soldier as describing the situation as a complete collapse of the Israeli army’s moral standards in Gaza.
