Boston Consulting Group Accused of Aiding Plan to Displace Gazans

The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a U.S.-based consulting firm, has been implicated in a controversial plan to displace Palestinians from Gaza, according to an investigation by Financial Times (FT). The report reveals that BCG was involved in designing and implementing a plan led by the Israel-U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which aimed to replace United Nations (UN)-led aid coordination mechanisms in Gaza.

The project, which lasted approximately seven months and involved over a dozen BCG employees, cost more than $4 million. BCG reportedly developed a financial model for the post-war reconstruction of Gaza, which included scenarios where over 500,000 Gazans would be persuaded to leave the region with a $9,000 per person “resettlement package.” The model anticipated that three-quarters of these individuals would not return.

Project Halted Amid Criticism
Following public outcry, BCG announced that its collaboration with the GHF had been terminated, and all related activities in Gaza were stopped. In a statement, BCG said, “Unapproved additional work on Gaza, which lacked multilateral stakeholder support, was halted on May 30. BCG has not received and will not receive any payment for these efforts.” The company also stated that an official review of the project had been initiated, and one of the managing partners involved in the project had been placed on administrative leave.

Controversial Humanitarian Foundation
The GHF, which announced on May 27 that it had “begun operations in Gaza” and sent trucks for aid distribution, has been at the center of criticism. The Israeli military established four aid distribution centers in Gaza, three in the south and one in the north. However, images from the GHF-controlled distribution points were compared by social media users to iconic photos from Nazi concentration camps during World War II.

The UN Human Rights Office reported that the Israeli military had killed at least 410 Palestinians attempting to access aid from GHF distribution points.