Over the past week, a new and mysterious Swiss NGO has hit the headlines. According to various reports, the organization in question is supposed to operate the humanitarian aid program that Israel has initiated for the Gaza Strip. Shomrim can now reveal that the Swiss NGO is not the only organization that is slated to operate in Gaza: even before it was established, an NGO with an identical name was registered in the United States. Moreover, this American NGO has another link to the Israeli aid plan for Gaza: the American attorney who was involved in registering it was also responsible for registering Safe Research Solutions LLC (SRS) – one of the two private American companies that provided security services in Gaza during the most recent cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.

The very establishment of these nonprofits, the fact that they were registered through private attorneys and were registered in jurisdictions that have gained a reputation for facilitating a lack of transparency – Switzerland and Delaware in the case of the nonprofits and Wyoming in the case of the private company – all seem to suggest that the anonymous parties behind them do not want the information about the humanitarian aid and the billions of dollars it is expected to cost to be accessible to the public.

Either way, those involved are readying to commence operations on the ground: over the past few days, the American security company SRS  started recruiting workers for what it refers to as “a new humanitarian aid mission” in the Middle East. This would seem to indicate that the plans are about to be put into action.

A humanitarian plan, a Swiss nonprofit

Speaking to the media at the United States Embassy in Jerusalem on Friday, Ambassador Mike Huckabee revealed some details of the new humanitarian aid plan for Gaza. “Today, we are announcing that the process is ongoing. It is launched,” Huckabee said. “President Trump wants food distributed in Gaza safely and efficiently in a manner that Hamas will not be able to get its hand on the aid. There will be no threat to human life.”

Huckabee added that humanitarian aid organizations from around the world would be part of the plan, but added that he would not reveal their names. “The Israelis are going to be involved in providing necessary military security because it is a war zone, but they will not be involved in the distribution of the food, or even in the bringing of the food into Gaza. Any allegation that the Israelis don't care about humanitarian aid is absolutely false,” he added. He also said that private companies would provide security for aid workers distributing food in Gaza.

Huckabee’s comments came a day after worldwide reports about a humanitarian aid plan created by an organization called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The plan was presented to the United Nations, ascribed to Israel and roundly criticized.

At the same time as there were reports about a new humanitarian aid plan for Gaza, SRS started to recruit workers for what it called “a humanitarian mission in the Middle East.”

According to various reports, GHF was registered in Geneva in February this year. The individuals listed in the organization’s registration documents appear to have absolutely no connection to the issue of humanitarian aid. The president of GHF is an Armenian national called David Papazian, who was ousted from his position as CEO of the Armenian National Interests Fund in January 2024. He is now chairman of the board of Armenia low-cost airline Fly Arna and is known to have especially good connections in the United Arab Emirates. Alongside Papazian, there are two lawyers registered as members of the nonprofit: an American called Loik Henderson and David Kohler from Switzerland. Papazian and Kohler refused to answer Shomrim’s questions, while Henderson said that he was not willing to address the subject.

American nonprofit too and a security firm

Shomrim can now reveal that an additional nonprofit with exactly the same name was registered in the United States in November last year, four months before the Swiss organization was established. The U.S. version of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation was registered in the State of Delaware by James H. Cundiff, an attorney who usually specializes in tax planning and trust funds for the super-wealthy. As already mentioned, Cundiff was also the attorney who registered Safe Reach Solutions, one of the two American companies that was responsible for security checks on Palestinian vehicles in Gaza during the last cease-fire and ensuring that Hamas did not smuggle weapons to northern Gaza.

The U.S. version of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation was registered in the State of Delaware by James H. Cundiff, an attorney who usually specializes in tax planning and trust funds for the super-wealthy.

While it is not known what connection exists, if any, between the American and Swiss nonprofits, it is worth noting that, on February 7, just four days before the registration of the Swiss organization, the American one announced that it was changing its name and removing any reference to Gaza. Instead, the organization would be known as the “For Those in Need Foundation”.

This is not the only connection between the organizations and companies that are apparently planning to operate in Gaza. During the last few days SRS started to recruit workers for what it called “a humanitarian mission in the Middle East.”

When Shomrim sent an email inquiring about possible employment, the reply, rather surprisingly, came from UG Solutions LLC – the second American company that operated in Gaza during the cease-fire – with details of the job offering. On its website, UG Solutions said that it is looking to recruit “highly skilled security professionals with combat experience to support multinational security operations. This mission involves securing key infrastructure, facilitating humanitarian efforts, and ensuring stability in a dynamic environment.”

Shomrim has reached out to both security companies and to Cundiff for responses, as well as the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem and the U.S. State Department. By publication time, none of them had responded. Any response received will be added to this article.