Elouda Group, a company based in the Bedouin town of Hura in southern Israel, has drawn unexpected attention for its role in providing humanitarian aid packages to Gaza as the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF) launched relief efforts this week.
On Wednesday, Jaber Abu Al-Qiyan, one of the company’s managers, clarified the process behind the aid, emphasizing that the contents of the packages were approved by the IDF before distribution.
“Nonprofits from the United States fund the packages, and before they are packed, the organization coordinates approval with the Israeli military,” Abu Al-Qiyan told Ynet.
According to Abu Al-Qiyan, the company works with a U.S.-based charity called Al-Rahma, which has paid for the goods included in the aid packages. “There are two U.S. charities involved, one of them named Al-Rahma. Before the packages are packed, the charity ensures approval from the military. We sell the products to the charities, and they send them. These are items that the military specifically approved and requested,” he said.
The aid packages contain a selection of 18 approved items that the charity can choose from. Abu Al-Qiyan explained that Al-Rahma representatives visited Elouda after reviewing multiple price quotes. He also noted that Al-Rahma operates a branch in Israel, which coordinated the purchase. However, after the goods were delivered, the charity reported that some of the aid was stolen in Gaza.
Al-Rahma, officially registered as Rahma Aid and Development Worldwide, is a nonprofit organization also registered in Israel. Its mission includes providing food, medicine, hygiene products, bottled water and rehabilitating water infrastructure to ensure access to clean water.
In a post on Instagram, Al-Rahma stated that “the organization had four containers with 4,000 food boxes and 16 containers of wheat” intended for the World Food Program (WFP) at the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza. The organization said that a local humanitarian group in Gaza received the aid and transferred it to the international distribution point within the territory.
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The Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF), which operates aid distribution centers in Gaza, shared footage on Wednesday of residents celebrating the arrival of the aid and thanking Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump.
Gaza children happy about deliveries
Two distribution centers were opened on Wednesday, though one began operating only at noon, delayed by about three hours due to chaos the previous day. On Tuesday, crowds of Palestinians stormed one of the aid sites, stealing food and equipment belonging to GHF personnel.
According to the GHF, approximately 14,550 food boxes were distributed on Wednesday across the two centers. Each package is estimated to feed five and a half people for three and a half days, amounting to a total of 840,262 meals. GHF officials said additional centers will open in the coming weeks, with plans to build new ones as well.
Meanwhile, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories announced on Wednesday that Israel had facilitated the entry of vaccines into Gaza earlier this week. The shipment included 15,050 vials of pneumococcal vaccine, sufficient for 75,250 people and 10,550 vials of diphtheria vaccine, enough for 105,500 people.