Swiss authorities say controversial U.S.-backed Gaza aid group violates the fund

London – The controversial U.S. and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), whose business started a chaotic start this week in the war-torn Palestinian territory, said it is ending Switzerland's operations in three months. The move comes after Swiss authorities said the GHF violated the rules of the country's registered foundations. GHF told CBS News that forward, its only business will come from the United States.

With Hamas-operated Gaza Health Ministry saying a Palestinian was killed, when Israeli troops opened fire, Swiss GHF legal complications emerged, and another 47 injured People look for food in one of its aid distribution centers Tuesday in southern Gaza. The IDF said in a statement Tuesday that the troops fired only “warning guns” to restore orders to the scene. “No shooting at the Palestinian crowd” and “no casualties,” the GHF later said in a statement. A few injured Palestinians can be seen in videos of the incident confirmed by CBS News, which confirmed that the incident showed hundreds of people around the distribution center.

There is very little funding for GHF, including who funded GHF. A source told CBS News that GHF hired at least 300 U.S. contractors, all of which were armed, and they were awarded “as much ammunition as possible.”

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said that according to a document obtained by CBS News, the document appears to have been written by the group, which is registered in Delaware and Geneva, Switzerland. The document said the Swiss “membership” was established with the aim of “to address donors who would rather participate in participation outside the U.S. structure.”

The document said: “The Swiss GHF Board and Executive Team will closely reflect the U.S. GHF board and will abide by the same principles, tasks and values.”

A separate document aimed at registering the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Switzerland, dated January 31, 2025, was published as part of the country's commercial register. The foundation is shown to be registered on February 17 from February 17.

According to the Swiss Registration Document, “The Foundation seeks only charitable and charitable goals to benefit people who need to support material, mental or health reasons and, more specifically, provide humanitarian assistance to those affected by the conflict in the Gaza Strip, including the safe provision of food, water, medicine, shelter and styling.”

It lists three people as leaders of the Swiss Foundation: the document says that it is from Armenia but based in the UK; LOLK SAMUEL MARCEL HENDERSON, an American from Arlington, Virginia; and David Kohler from Switzerland.

Subsequent documents announced the removal of Swiss National Kohler from the Foundation's Board of Directors on May 19 and May 23 respectively, and then at the end of the Swiss Accounting Firm, OGH Completises Comptables et Ciscales SA's role as auditor for the Foundation.

The Federal Supervisory Administration (ESA) of the Swiss Federal Foundation told CBS News on Wednesday that according to its assessment, the Swiss branch of the Humanitarian Foundation of Gaza “has not yet met the country’s various legal obligations.”

ESA said the Swiss branch of the aid group does not have the signing committee members required by its board residents, it does not have at least three board members required by Swiss regulations, and it does not appear to have a Swiss bank account, a valid Swiss address or an auditor – all of which are requirements for state-registered GHFs.

“Based on this information, ESA assumes that the Swiss Foundation has not started its activities and is therefore inactive,” the authorities told CBS News. “ESA has informed the Foundation of its legal requirements and requested clarification. The necessary clarification is currently underway.”

The Swiss non-governmental oversight organization International Trial Organization said it submitted two legal opinions to the Swiss government on May 20 and 21, and in the federal supervisory authority of the federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it aims to assess GHF compliance with the Swiss legal system, as well as Switzerland’s bill on Swiss federal public safety services.

NGOs, within the framework of Foundation activities, and in particular various national and international law rules regarding “private security services”, aim to urgently correct potential violations of national and international law rules, such as military security and personal control of NGOs over the distribution points”.

Switzerland “has moral but also has a special legal obligation to ensure that entities operating from their territory respect the Geneva Assembly itself.

“So we just want to understand what they do,” he said.

Grant said it was unclear how much GHF activity actually occurred in Geneva, as part of the motivation for his group submission. It also sought to find out whether the GHF had requested and obtained the necessary approval to participate in private military services, with strict regulation of registered organizations in the country under Swiss law.

GHF said Wednesday that in response to CBS News’ request, “The GHF entity used today is the basis that Loik Henderson established in the United States in February 2025. This is the only entity that GHF operates and will run and will continue to move forward. The Swiss entity is created by enterprises.

James Smith, a doctor who works in Gaza, told CBS News that armed contractors at the aid distribution center have armed contractors in the GHF hub south of Gaza, raising red flags for humanitarian workers. He said the location of the hub could be a way to forcibly place Gaza’s population in the southern part of the strip.

“They are inhumane. They are inhumane. We have seen people in the cages in the heat of baking,” Smith said.

Smith noted that the concerns raised by the United Nations refused to work with organizations on the GHF approach, and even “some people who worked for the GHF and resigned until the last few days, they could not uphold humanitarian principles if they continued to work for this entity.”

“Armed military actors, especially those who are at risk of being parties to the conflict, should also provide humanitarian assistance, and scholars from no well-known humanitarian organizations should support any well-known humanitarian organization,” Smith said.

Imtiaz Tyab contributed to the report.