IHL Rules Applicable to Private Actors in Gaza

Private actors have played a pivotal role in the debacle surrounding the Israeli-imposed scheme purporting to deliver aid to Gaza since May 2025. This legal brief aims to clarify whether and how IHL and humanitarian principles apply to these private actors.

This legal brief builds on the IHL Centre’s June 2025 report, Legal Appraisal of Israel’s Purported Aid Delivery Scheme in Gaza, which focused on Israel’s obligations under IHL. A short Q&A on select legal issues relating to this Israeli-imposed scheme is also available here.

The Israeli-imposed delivery scheme in Gaza entails several violations by Israel, including – but not limited to – violations of its obligations to consent to, allow, and facilitate humanitarian activities, to respect and protect civilians, as well as the prohibitions of starvation and forced displacement. The scheme also raises questions about the contribution of private actors to these violations, as well as their involvement in other possible violations. 

This legal brief aims to clarify whether and how IHL and humanitarian principles apply to private actors operating in Gaza, with a focus on corporations such as the so-called ‘Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’ and its contractors. It aims to clarify some aspects of the legal framework that establishes their obligations, the protections to which they are entitled, and the avenues to hold them accountable – as entities, and as individuals. 

Cover photo: Members of a private US security company, contracted by the so-called ‘Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’ (GHF), a private US-backed aid group which the UN refuses to work with over neutrality concerns, direct displaced Palestinians as they gather to receive relief supplies at a distribution centre in the central Gaza Strip on June 8, 2025. Eyad BABA/AFP. All Rights Reserved.