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The Aqua Connection: Origin Stories of The Aqua Lads and Twilights

E. Mark Windle 10 March 2026.

Many folks from the soul music community will have known the late Mark Bicknell, whether directly through his friendship, his DJing, radio hosting or record dealing. Doubtless they will also be aware of his music industry networking and passion for reissuing rare soul recordings on his Big Man Records imprint.

A few years ago, while Mark was working on some Carolina recordings he had secured under licence, he approached me to write the sleeve notes. Needless to say, I was honoured and obliged. Within the first few months two fine 45s were released that showcased 1960s recordings by The Embers, originally appearing on EEE and JCP. Riding on the popularity of those, Big Man Records set to work on a third. This was to include a pairing of the rare soul collector’s favourite “I Remember” by Anthony and the Aqua Lads, and The Twilights’ up-tempo dancer “You’re the One”. The record was chalked up for release but sadly, with Mark’s sudden illness and eventual passing, it never materialised. In the spirit of Mark’s efforts to preserve soul music history and with the permission of his partner Karen Bentham, the following article reproduces my notes for what would have been BMR 1019.

ANTHONY & THE AQUA LADS

The origin story of The Aqua Lads begins on a US Air Force base in Libya during the early 1960s. As part of The Renegades, Carolinians Roy Edwards and Tony Maner (also Manor) were able to hone their musical talents, playing mainly doo-wop and rock and roll to soldiers on base and in downtown Tripoli.

The pair eventually returned to the Carolinas from military service, but Tony was determined to continue his passion for performing. Sharing their love for the emerging soul music phenomenon, he and Roy reconnected. Recruitment for additional band members commenced through local newspaper advertising and word of mouth. The newly assembled band hooked up with Hit Attractions, one of the largest booking agencies in the southeast. Promoted as Anthony & the Aqua Lads, bookings came thick and fast for appearances at Charlotte, Myrtle Beach, and at college venues throughout the South.

While the boys were performing on the east coast, they caught the attention of a New York record producer. The infectious up-tempo “I Remember”, written and arranged by Roy, was recorded during a 1966 session at Robbins Recording Studio in Greensboro, North Carolina. The release on Gold Bee label early the following year received a little radio play, though without any major marketing or distribution it failed to break into the national charts.

Image: EM Windle

The ultimate drive as far as The Aqua Lads were concerned was for live performance, and other than some quiet releases on the Aqua label that’s where they directed their energy. The ensuing years featured various changes in personnel (including Earl Dawkins taking Tony’s place upfront when he left for other ventures). There was a good run as a revue that included The Chantells, a female double-act spotted by the group on the way back from a North Carolina gig. Before the decade was out, The Aqua Lads would share the stage with James Brown, Wilson Pickett, The Drifters, The Tams, Jackie Wilson and various Motown acts.

It would be more than a decade later—the early 1980s—before the blue-eyed soul of “I Remember” was rediscovered by the UK soul scene. A copy had passed hands from renowned record dealer John Anderson to collector / DJ Mark “Butch” Dobson, who then traded that copy with Stafford Top of the World DJ Keb Darge. The rest is “60’s newies” history. Butch would later include the record in his own sets at Tony’s New Empress Ballrooms, the 100 Club and other venues. He was also fortunate enough to turn up the holy grail: the original Robbins Recording Studio acetate carrying the slogan We Record Anything Worth Keeping!

THE TWILIGHTS

The Twilights are connected to The Aqua Lads story by the fact that both groups were managed by Ralph Farmer from Kannapolis, an individual who was keen on promoting upcoming regional bands. Confusingly, at least two groups in North Carolina went by the name of The Twilights; the one of interest here hailed from Salisbury.

The group was comprised of friends from a number of schools in the same neighbourhood. Lead singer and horn player Gary Lowder had originally been in a Baptist choir and was a student at South Rowen School. Other members included Olin Jones, Gerald Smith and Randy Bost (on horns), Duane Smith (bass guitar), Ricky Christy (drums), Jimmy Lackey (keyboards) and Larry Pinkston (guitar).

The up-tempo “You’re the One” was written by Gary, recorded at Arthur Smith Studios in Charlotte, and released on Aqua during the spring of 1971. In an effort to push the record and to get greater general exposure for Gary as a singer, Farmer accompanied him to Memphis to shop around local studios and labels. Legendary producer and songwriter Chips Moman was also impressed enough to offer them a song to record though nothing more came of it.

Image permission: Karen Bentham

Around the same time as the Aqua release, The Twilights had a busy schedule covering venue in Washington DC and Florida. Rudy Guarino, manager of Boston’s Sugar Shack invited the group to a week-long residency at his new club at the Marco Polo hotel in Miami Beach. Wayne Cochran and the C.C. Riders were huge headliners at the time. Gary admitted they were awestruck by Cochrane and his band, while learning a lot about stage performance and musicianship from them.

Inspired, on The Twilights’ return to North Carolina the horns were cranked up, the name changed to Hot Smokin’ Brass—and the next few years were spent on the road as Jackie Wilson’s backing band until Wilson’s career was tragically cut short in 1975. After a long period outside the region, Gary eventually returned to the southeast, where in recent years he has recorded and performed as Gary Lowder and Smokin’ Hot.

(The Stroke Association is a UK charity that provided a range of support during Mark Bicknell’s illness. If you’d like to find out more about the important work they do to prevent stroke, support those affected by it and to fund research, visit the Stroke Association website)

Mocha and Cream. The Global Records Story

E. Mark Windle 6 March 2026.

The passing of Edwin James Balbier a couple of years ago went virtually unnoticed in UK northern scene circles: indeed few outside of the industry will recall his name. Yet, this individual would be the unwitting driving force behind one of the most popular soul re-issue (if brief) label imprints of the 1970s, even if it was the company’s younger soul music enthusiast employees who shaped the nature of the label arm of the operation.

Balbier’s initial interests did not lie in soul music, but more generally in the oldies market. Born in 1930, the Philadelphian had an early career in the US Air Force before turning to the wholesale record business in city in the 1960s. Balbier arrived on UK shores in 1971 with his entourage of nine children to explore making a living in record importing and sales. The move to Manchester in 1971 wasn’t exactly an overnight success, but he was a determined individual with a strong work ethic and a desire to provide the best for his large family.

“Global Records was one of the first companies to import records into the UK”, comments Rick Cooper, one-time employee of Ed Balbier’s empire. “Ed owned a couple of record stores in Philly in the early 60s. He moved into distributing indie label releases and then oldies and deletions market. Somehow, he must have found out that his warehouse full of old records was worth more in the UK than the US. Who knows, maybe a few UK collectors started turning up at his warehouse.”

“Balbier set up Global in a small basement on Corporation Street in Manchester city centre, while his eldest son Eddie Jr. stayed in Philly keeping the warehouse operating. Ed never set out to specialise in northern soul. His main business was country, rock and pop albums and oldies singles. However, he knew it was worth employing someone in Manchester who could pick the titles that were in demand. Derek Howe was one of the first to work there, then Barry Tasker and Richard Searling. Barry was one of the best DJs in the early days and gave Richard his big break at Manchester’s Pendulum Club. I landed a part time job at Global and was employed full time by 1973. By then, Balbier had relocated to a larger premises on Princess St. and finally to the whole basement of an office block just off Oxford St. It was about the size of a football pitch and could hold a huge number of records.”

Global’s first priority was to establish the importing side of its business:

“Ed would go to the States every five or six weeks. He’d stay in Philly and use the warehouse as a collection and packing facility. Two or three times a year he’d send a container by sea freight instead of the usual air freight. These would be filled with anything he picked up cheap: a mix of 45s and albums. I don’t know where he sourced them from but was probably smart enough not to buy anything that had already been picked clean. There was always some great tracks among the singles even if they weren’t in massive quantities. I didn’t have time to play every unknown title, so probably missed out on some good stuff. Also northern soul was still a fairly narrow genre then. Even by playing everything I couldn’t have predicted future moves through mid-tempo, beat ballads, R&B and funk-edged soul. I do remember the best container had multiple copies of Eddie Spencer, Tobi Lark, Mikki Farrow, Jimmy Soul Clarke and most releases from the Miracle label. One-offs included the International GTOs, Gwen and Ray, and Michael and Raymond. I got quite a few unknowns in but just kept them rather than selling them to DJs. Several of these eventually received plays at the Stafford all-nighters and beyond.”

Rick Cooper (right) at the TK studio in Miami (1977) with Francis “Mr Tee” Thomas (photo courtesy of Rick Cooper).

“I went to the States with Ed a couple of times. This should have been a dream come true but I found it disappointing. I’d have to get up very early, be driven up to 80 miles to huge warehouses full of albums, spend eight hours sorting through boxes looking for country and rock music, then get back late at night completely exhausted. On my last US trip with Global, I was sent on my own. Another employee called Will was already there. He was actually living in the Philly warehouse, sleeping in a tiny little room with instructions to never leave after dark. I flew in and was met by Ed’s son. As it was late, I stayed with him that night at the family house in the suburbs. Next day I got the train to inner city Philly to meet Will. As I was leaving the train station a young man approached me, asking the time. Being a young naive Brit I stopped to tell him. He grabbed my jacket, pulled out my wallet, took the contents and calmly walked off. No guns, knives or any violence so all was cool, especially as it wasn’t my money he took. I got to look through books of mug shots at the police station and ride around in a cop car looking for the guy, but we didn’t find him.

The warehouse work involved a 10 or 11-hour day sorting out albums with hardly any time to look for singles—even though there were thousands. Also it was February and -15C at night. All I wanted to do was keep warm with a beer in that tiny office! Of course, looking back I should have spent time going through some of paperwork and files.”

Back in Manchester the imported sales were doing well. Record collectors would turn up at the huge basement location to pick up old recordings and to see what had just arrived. A mail order facility was provided, with an occasional list available for customers with around a dozen pages of singles and albums. Ed Balbier focussed on the numbers end of the business, whilst day to day sales and customer contact were left to his employees. Ed quickly become suspicious if any large orders were received. Panicking that the product was under-priced, items would routinely be marked as “out of stock” until the next list, by which time the price tag would be increased.

“The titles in large quantities were listed for wholesale to shops and northern titles listed on a ‘specials’ list”, remembers Rick. “There were loads of other stock that was lying around. Some of this had been roughly sorted by artist for unlisted collectors’ stock. The idea was that if someone asked what they had by, say James Brown, it was easy to find a large selection. This proved handy when something started getting played by a known artist on the northern scene. I got a copy of “Landslide” as soon as Ian Levine played it by simply going to the Tony Clarke section. Same for The Coasters’ “Crazy Baby”, Gene Chandler’s “Mr Big Shot” and The Van Dykes on Mala. Barry Tasker and Richard Searling got plenty of good stuff before me, so it was really when new stock arrived that I got the best records.”

So to the label arm of Global Records: back in the 1960s Balbier was not entirely unaware of the soul music market as he distributed a number of independent labels back in Philadelphia, including stock running into the thousands of The Precisions’ “If This Is Love” on Drew. Balbier’s professional connections with Bernie Binnick, owner of Swan Records would be the root of the inception of Global’s foray into label releases and the eventual Cream imprint. Ed had acquired some Swan material from Bernie on ¼” mono tapes and ½” studio masters. Rick Cooper took the tapes to a former BBC sound engineer in Altringham who had facilities to deal the ½” tape. The engineer mixed the material including some instrumental versions of particular tracks and pressed up some 2-3 acetates of each track.

Global’s first two pressings replicated the Swan logo, as part of the requirement of the agreed licencing contract. These were The Guys From Uncle “The Spy” (UK Swan S-4240), a popular Wigan Casino instrumental at the time, and The Modern Redcaps “Never Too Young To Fall In Love” (UK Swan S-4243).

Author collection.

As these sold well, Ed Balbier supported Rick’s idea to set up a label dedicated to releasing further content. There was still Swan material left to utilise, and a new label imprint meant that sourced from other labels could be considered. With that, Cream was born.

Swan output was further represented via Eddie Carlton “It Will Be Done” (Cream 5001), which was mixed from a four-track session master tape. The instrumental version was chosen to replace “Misery” which appeared on the original 45. Cream 5003 would complete the Swan product, featuring The Jaywalkers’ up-tempo “Can’t Live Without You”, and on the flip, an instrumental version of Sheila Ferguson’s “Heartbroken Memories”.

James Fountain’s “Seven Day Lover” (CRM 5002) would be Cream’s biggest seller. Rick felt the time was right to choose this as the inaugural release. In many ways a ground breaker for the northern soul scene with its heavy funk bassline, it was near the peak of its popularity with the original Peachtree format being played by DJs at various events across the country. The time was also right to market a legitimate reissue as demand had not been affected by bootlegging.

Courtesy of Rick Cooper.

“William Bell owned the Peachtree recordings. He wasn’t exactly hard to get a hold of, being a public figure. I contacted him by letter, we drew up a contract. The contract was fairly simple. He confirmed he had the right to licence out the recording. Global agreed to pay an advance and an amount per record when sales had covered the advance. The rights were exclusive for three years. We started pressing and did lot of promotional work was done on this one. Advertisements were placed in Black Echoes and Black Music magazines. We even tried to get national distribution through the major labels, including CBS. In the end they didn’t want to commit, so we supplied directly though Global. Some high street shops picked it up also, like HMV and Boots. The first pressing run of 5000 sold within a week, so we followed it up with another 5000, and then another 2-3000. We must have sold up to 11000 in the end.”

Courtesy of Rick Cooper.

Enter American #2: Irving Weinroth. Irving, a local Judge and his son had been co-owners of the US Party Time label back in the 1960s, which had featured The Showstoppers on “Ain’t Nothin’ But A House Party” and The Four Perfections “I’m Not Strong Enough”. Both groups were well known on the UK northern soul scene for these recordings and would make easy choices for release.

“He was the person I dealt with for leasing The Showstoppers and The Four Perfections” says Rick. “At the time Irving was out of the record industry. He told me that the Party Time label had been set up for his son some years before. I guess Irving provided the money to try to get his son into the record business. I met him at the North Broad St. warehouse in Philly. He mentioned the producer listed on the Four Perfections record, Kip Gainsborough, was a made-up name from Kip their dog and the street they lived on. Maybe they did this to hide some-one under contract to another label, who knows. He gave me a copy of the Four Perfections and a couple of unreleased Showstoppers tracks. The instrumental version of “I’m Not Strong Enough” on the flip of the Cream release was mixed at Grand Prix studios by Walt Khan, the producer of Life’s “Tell Me Why”.”

Johnny Jones and the King Kasuals’ funked-up version of “Purple Haze” would see a simultaneous release in 1976 on both UK Brunswick and Cream:

“Around the same time, “Purple Haze” was becoming popular in the northern clubs. The original US Brunswick stated it was a Peachtree record, produced by William Bell, not a Peachtree recording (the usual term). We felt this inferred that Peachtree retained more ownership than merely producing the record. I asked William if we could licence “Purple Haze” for release on Cream in the UK. He told us he had owned the recording, so we exchanged contracts and had the record pressed. About two weeks later Decca issued “Purple Haze” on UK Brunswick. We sought legal advice and informed Decca that we had exclusive rights to release the record, through William Bell. The only way we could prove this claim was to refer to William Bell’s contract with US Brunswick. I phoned him and said he’d try to find it. Time was running out as Decca was already selling their record as well as threatening a court injunction. I was on the phone to William Bell every day for about a week to see if he had found the contract. Eventually we decided to withdraw our release of the record as the contract couldn’t be located. I don’t know if Ed Balbier sorted the money side with Bell, maybe he refunded the advance. Whatever, I don’t remember any animosity between Global and William Bell.

One of the DJ’s from Amsterdam used to take any deep soul stuff I had at Global. Millie’s records bought loads. Loads of the stuff sold by Global to the Netherlands was originally surplus stock we’d bought from John Anderson’s Soul Bowl. I was sent three or four times in the mid 70’s to Norfolk in the largest van you could drive without an HGV licence. John Anderson took me to what looked like an old village primary school a few miles out of King’s Lynn. This was packed with 45’s. We loaded up the van as much as possible paying about 1p per disc. Back at Global I’d play through them and send samples off to customers in Holland. They would order hundreds at 75p each. We must have got tens of thousands of records from Soul Bowl but not one was in any way ‘northern soul’. John must have been the most thorough dealer of them all. Most people would have let a few slip through. One load was the remains of his Sue/Symbol/Eastern label buy. We also approached William Bell again for a contract to press one thousand copies of Mitty Collier’s “Share What You Got / I’d Like To Change Places” (UK Peachtree P 122) from the original master tape, to sell to the Netherlands. A few copies of that ended up in HMV in Manchester, the rest went to Millies.

Courtesy of Rick Cooper.

“I left Global after a disagreement with Ed Balbier just after The Showstoppers’ record came out on Cream” continues Rick Cooper. “I’d done the work on the record. It was getting good reviews in the music press and I had been busy sending out promos. Ed then told me that the record, and all previous releases on Cream, were to be sold at the top price charged for US issues and not the same as the usual UK label price. From memory I think this would be 75p instead of 59p. This would mean the price in the shops would be at least £1.25, same as US pressings. This to me was crazy as the whole point of setting up the label was to get records into the big chains such as Boots, HMV, Smiths and Woolworths. They would have never allowed one label’s singles to sell at higher prices. If Ed wanted the higher price it would have been simpler just to get the records from the US via the owner or label. We did this for plenty of titles- Carstairs, Oscar Perry, Nasco, Jamie Guyden etc. These sold well in specialist shops but were not really worth issuing on Cream. This is how Inferno, Grapevine, Selectadisc and Black Magic worked it with their records, so I couldn’t understand why Ed thought he could do it differently. We also stocked The Showstoppers’ original record in large quantities at Global, so what was the point of the Cream release. Seemed bloody stupid. I left Global in 1976 and sold most of my own collection to fund a trip to the States. Global would eventually close in the late 1980s. Yanks was the name used for the retail part of the Manchester warehouse, situated in the same premises but set out more like a shop with records in racks. His son, Gregg, was more involved with this but this was after I’d left. Roger Banks helped Ed sort out and price up the stock as northern started its comeback.”

Much of the remaining stock and tapes were eventually sold to Rollercoaster Records, where Dave Flynn remembers initially stored the stock in an artic lorry trailer in a field before moving indoors to a low-ceiling basement , underneath a ladies clothing store in Cirencester. Robinson’s Records also apparently accrued some of the stock. Ed Balbier returned to the US, around ten years after his first wife Anna had passed away. He retired from the business in the 1980s, settling in Denver, Colorado but still took the time to travel the world. He passed away in September 2018, aged 87. His obituary reads: “Edwin is survived by his second wife Gloria, his nine children, eleven grandchildren and four great grandchildren. He will be remembered for his demanding work ethic, love of travel and decaf mocha!”

Acknowledgements: Rick Cooper, Richard Searling, Pete Smith, Roger Banks, Neil Rushton, Ian Cunliffe, Dave Flynn, Dave Moore. An earlier article on the Global / Cream history also appeared in Soul Up North magazine (editor Howard Earnshaw).

Malnutrition Relief or Empty Calories? Gaza Food Aid Composition, Distribution and Effectiveness

E. Mark Windle 18 February 2026.

Last year’s nutrition-related headlines in Gaza were hardly in short supply. In the spring of 2025, there was a three-month complete aid blockade on a background of chronically restricted border access. By August, over 54,600 children were acutely malnourished, 40% of pregnant and breastfeeding women were severely malnourished, and a famine was officially declared.

Last year’s malnutrition-related headlines in Gaza were hardly in short supply. In the spring of 2025, there was a three-month complete aid blockade on a background of chronically restricted border access. By August, over 54,600 children were acutely malnourished, 40% of pregnant and breastfeeding women were severely malnourished, and a famine was officially declared.

The opening line from United Nations spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric this January gave a hint of cautious optimism—for the first time since October 2023, the UN and partners had enough stock “to meet 100 percent of the minimum caloric standard”. Over the new year period alone, 10,000 metric tonnes of goods were sent into Gaza via the Karim Shalom, Karem Abu Salam and Zikim crossings. ¹

Of course, ‘stock’ doesn’t quite equate to internal distribution. This is particularly true in the context of ongoing conflict (a ceasefire has been called in name only), and Israel’s determination to suspend the operations of numerous NGOs in Gaza and West Bank.

The UN’s announcement was encouraging but the challenges are real. Importantly, the UN also stressed that the delivery of food, clothing and shelter must remain unimpeded to prevent exacerbation of the current crisis. It’s one thing to have enough stock. It’s another to ensure that it actually reaches those who need it. Then there’s further consideration regarding food aid: that of intrinsic quality and appropriateness. Donors may entrust such matters to NGOs, but are food parcels practically, nutritionally and culturally fit for purpose?

Sphere guidelines

While not the only set of internationally recognised standards for agencies to plan aid delivery, the Sphere Handbook: Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response is a widely used reference point. ² Guidance is offered in the four main areas of crisis response: water supply including sanitation and hygiene promotion (WASH); shelter, health, and nutrition.

The nutrition standards stress the need to continuously monitor aspects of malnutrition incidence, food security status, and the availability of local markets and health facilities. As a starting point, where food rations are designed to supply all dietary energy in the absence of any other available food, then they should also contain full daily amounts required of macronutrients (protein, fat and carbohydrate) and micronutrients (vitamins, minerals and trace elements). For a total energy target of 2,100kcal per day—the Sphere Handbook assumption of a typical adult’s daily requirement—protein content should represent a minimum of 10-12% of total calories, or 52.5 – 63g per day.

Where communities are able to obtain some food locally, Sphere guidelines suggest a pro rata approach to calorie (energy) and individual nutrient provision. If the nature of typically available food is known, the parcel should be designed to “complement these foods by filling nutrient gaps”. ²

Types of food aid

Aid may be presented in the form of single or multiple bulk food parcels, ready to use therapeutic / supplementary foods, voucher and subsidised systems, and food fortified with micronutrients. On-site kitchens can also prepare and serve soup, hot meals and fortified bread. The severely malnourished and those with specific dietary needs to manage a chronic medical condition may require specialised oral feeds. Some of these individuals are best managed in clinical settings, though Israel’s destruction of Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure has ruled that option out for many.

The following illustrates some of large-scale food distribution approaches and population reach in Gaza:

World Food Programme “food baskets”: these boxes may contain cereals (like wheat, maize, or rice), pulses (such as lentils and beans), vegetable oil, and iodized salt. WFP prioritises food purchasing from local suppliers and often uses staple foods fortified with micronutrients. ³Within a month of the October 2025 ceasefire announcement, WFP delivered food packages designed to last 10 days to 1 million people in Gaza from the organisation’s 44 hubs. Fresh bread was also delivered to 700,000 people through 17 approved bakeries. ⁴

Relief kitchens: US NGO World Central Kitchen (WCK) scaled up its activity in Gaza in 2025, shifting from an emergency response to a widely established community-led activity. Despite frequent security incidents, WCK’s six main relief kitchens and its partner facilities were able to cook between 650,000 and 1 million hot meals every day during the latter half of 2025. ^{5, 6}

Cash / vouchers– nearly 200,000 people in Gaza received emergency digital cash payments from the WFP in October 2025 for the purposes of purchasing food and essential goods from local markets. ⁴

Ready-to-use Therapeutic Foods (RUTF) – nutrient dense RUTF are presented as a paste, spread or biscuit bar in foil wrapping and do not require refrigeration or water for reconstitution. Most are based on peanut butter, vegetable oil, skimmed milk powder, sugar and fortified with vitamins and minerals. Among the most widely used is Plumpy’Nut, manufactured by Nutriset (and others under special licence arrangements). Each 92g sachet provides 500kcal.

As its indication for use is in the treatment of severe acute malnutrition in children, Plumpy’Nut is classed as a prescribed medicine. Nutriset also manufacture less nutrient dense supplementary ready-to-use products for the prevention of malnutrition or for the management of moderate acute malnutrition. UNICEF and WFP have been the main supplier to hospitals and community clinics in Gaza. Other NGOs such as Médecins San Frontières, CESVI Fondazione and Action Against Hunger have also been involved in the use of RUTF. ^7-9

Political and conflict factors affecting food manufacture and distribution

Ensuring nutritional needs are met is a humanitarian priority. However, a number of barriers influence the manufacture, supply, composition and delivery of food aid intended for Gaza.

External politics: Cuts made by Trump and the Elon Musk-associated Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to the funding approval abilities of USAID affected a number of supply chain contracts, including those of RUTF companies. US-based peanut paste manufacturers like MANA Nutrition and Edesia Nutrition were given federal instructions to halt work on active orders. Contracts were voided and existing warehouse stock carrying the USAID logo and other US references was rendered useless, as RUTF manufacturers were informed that it should not be distributed. ¹⁰

Border crossing closures and goods blockade: Gaza’s high population density has meant a constant and heavy reliance on the external supply of goods, including food, power and water. Obvious difficulties for aid organisations have been border closures and Israel’s goods blockade. At times blockade has been complete and sustained, as in the spring of last year that ultimately led to the famine a few months later. Chronic partial blockades have also placed severe and illogical constraints on goods supply. Previously, Israeli authorities placed peanut butter paste (and by extension, RUTF) on the restricted list, categorising it as a “luxury” item. ¹¹

Transportation risks across land: Truck convoys have faced precarious journeys even before entering Gaza. Protest groups against the supply of aid while Israeli hostages were still being held captive by Hamas attempted to sabotage operations. Tsav 9, Forum Tikva and Warrior Mothers carried out a number of demonstrations at the crossings of Kerem Shalom, Nitzana and Tarqumiyah.^12-14 These often turned violent, with truck drivers stoned, and food and clothing supplies taken or destroyed. In one instance, trucks were torched by a teenage gang from the Israeli settlement at Evyatar. The passiveness of local Israeli police and inadequate protection for trucks travelling to border gates were reported by senior security commissioners to have been the result of an order from Itamar Ben-Gvir, Minister of National Security. ¹⁵

Once inside Gaza, goods are usually taken to warehouses or designated storage areas, and from there, to distribution sites or other places where communities gather. The Gaza Ministry of Health repeatedly reported a number of attacks on aid workers travelling to and from storage hubs. In 2024, a small convoy of World Central Kitchen cars travelling between a warehouse and a food distribution area was targeted by missiles fired from an Israeli drone. Seven workers were killed: the IDF later admitted a serious violation of standard military operating procedures and had dismissed a number of its senior officers and commanders. ¹⁶ Within the first 12 months of the latest escalation in conflict, over 320 aid workers were estimated been killed by Israeli snipers, open fire and airstrikes. ¹⁷

Airdrops and maritime transfer: Because of persistent dangers posed by a lack of truck protection in and outside Gaza, attempts to deliver goods by air or sea have been made with very limited success. Airdrops are costly and inefficient. Parcels can land in the sea or present a danger to civilians on land. In active conflict zones, parachuted pallets may have to be dropped from heights between 300 and 5,000 metres. The US also implemented a floating pier and causeway concept. Goods would be unloaded from incoming ships, then transferred by smaller boats to a 500-metre coastal pier on the beach.

From the outset the project was perceived by many as a Biden administration publicity stunt. ^18,19 Homes in the al-Zahra neighbourhood were bulldozed to create a buffer zone for pier access. Accusations were also made that the IDF—in cooperation with US forces— used the pier for a hostage rescue mission at Nuseirat refugee camp: one which left over 200 Palestinians dead. US forces denied it had been used for military purposes, despite the fact that there was video footage of military equipment on the pier. ²⁰ In the end, bad weather and expense ensured the exercise was short-lived. At construction and maintenance costs of 230 million US dollars, the floating pier assisted in the equivalent of one day’s aid. ²¹

Practical and cultural considerations for package composition

Where the intention is to include fresh food such as meat, fish, dairy products and fruit and vegetables, perishability is limiting factor when transportation times are long, border openings unpredictable and where there are numerous links in the supply chain. The prolonged nature of conflict in Gaza now means local sourcing is near impossible. Exclusion zones, destroyed infrastructure and people displacement has almost completely limited access to agricultural land. Even back in the summer of 2025, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) reported that only 9% of cropland was physically available. Additionally, a mere 1.5% of land had soil that escaped contamination by white phosphorous and debris from bombing. ^{22, 23}

Since the inclusion of fresh produce in food programmes remains a major problem for agencies, emphasis is often placed on commodities requiring little temperature or storage control. ‘Dry’ staples like cereals, flour and rice, and packets of biscuits, energy dense halva bars, and tinned fruit and vegetables are among items typically featured in aid packages.

Best practice, as highlighted by the Sphere guidelines, is to ensure food supply is culturally appropriate. WFP food basket contents are selected to be familiar to recipients by actively monitoring market availability, purchasing habits, and community or religious food traditions. ³ Certified and tinned shelf-stable halal products, including meat sourced from Australia and India, have been transported via Jordan through a number of distribution programmes. The WFP, alongside Muslim organisations such as the Global Rahmah Foundation and iF Charity have been involved in purchasing, processing and canning of halal and Qurbani meat for Gaza. ^{24, 25}

Nutritional diversity, compromise and bad practice

The body requires sufficient amounts of protein, fat and carbohydrate for optimal physiological function. Around half of all calories should be derived from dietary carbohydrate, the body’s preferred energy source which helps to fuel metabolic processes and muscle and brain function. Of equal importance is dietary protein for its essential role in wound repairing, immune function, muscle building, metabolic reactions and nutrient transport in the body.

Well intended but disproportionate use of certain foods can lead to an imbalance in nutritional diversity, especially in prolonged periods of dependency. Flour, rice and couscous are often core components of multi-item packages. However, sometimes these parcels can be “carbohydrate-heavy” and lack in significant amounts of protein. Cost and the perishable nature of some protein-rich foods can be prohibitive. There are workarounds, such as using lentils, chickpeas, beans and other plant sources. Options for animal sources of protein include tinned meat and fish, and ultra-heat-treated milk.

Vitamins, minerals, trace elements are required in small amounts only, but their presence in the diet is essential for cellular reactions that produce energy, the manufacture of hormones and enzymes, and immune function optimisation. Muscle wasting and weight loss are classic features of malnutrition, though sequelae can also include single or multiple micronutrient deficiencies. In Gaza, chronic food insecurity has led to a persistently high prevalence of iron-deficiency anaemia among young children, pregnant mothers and the severely malnourished. ^{26, 27}

An example of how not to supply food aid is ably demonstrated the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) throughout the five months of its existence in 2025. The controversial US-Israeli backed venture was fraught with a number of concerns, not least with regard to hundreds of incidences of shooting and killing of civilians at or near its distribution hubs.²⁸As far as the GHF packages were concerned, each box contained a total of 42,500 kcal; calculated to be sufficient to feed just over 5 people for half a week. Academics highlighted deficits in the wider nutrient profile: including iron, vitamin C, calcium, zinc and some B vitamins which could exacerbate existing levels of anaemia and scurvy. ²⁹There was also a fundamental flaw—with hubs centralised to no more than four at best throughout the whole of Gaza, civilians were faced with very long journeys on foot, often made by children who would struggle with boxes weighing almost 20kg.

Water: the essential ‘nutrient’

In the absence of drinking water, adult survival rarely extends beyond four or five days: babies and young infants within half that time, and less when on a background of malnutrition, diarrhoea and disease. Most adults are likely to need around 2 to 2.5 litres per day at baseline, though requirements increased where fluid loss increases such as in hot environments, or with diarrhoea. For washing, cooking, cleaning and personal hygiene purposes, WHO recommendations are 15 litres per person daily. The tragic reality is that over two billion people in the world do not have access to clean water, whether due to climate, conflict, politics or poverty. ³⁰

Since the beginning of the Nakba in the late 1940s, Gaza has depended on external supplies of potable water. The only source of flowing surface water and the groundwater basin have long been contaminated with sewage. Clean water was derived from desalination plants (now mostly damaged by airstrikes) and mainline pipes connected to Israel’s National Water Carrier network, a supply heavily controlled and weaponised by Israeli authorities.

If potable water is scarce, incorporation in aid parcels of cereals, rice, powdered milk and other foods that require cooking or reconstitution is a failed concept. Where bottled water is not included as part of an agency’s strategy, there should be coordination with others who do supply it or be knowledge that it is obtainable and affordable in local markets. The reality in Gaza is that there is often heavy reliance on private suppliers of bottled or tanked water enterprises which can be costly and of low quality.

The most logical way to meet population demand for clean, safe water is through a combination of importing, restoration of desalination plants and repair of disrupted pipe networks. Despite numerous challenges, Oxfam reported in January 2026 that they had worked with partners to restore wells in Gaza City and Khan Younis. Around 156,000 people in these locations now had a sustainable water supply. Plans to work on pumping stations also anticipated to benefit a further 175,000. ³¹

Humanitarian aid requires careful design and delivery. A range of indicators are used to justify and assess efficiency and success. The amount of food delivered has been expressed as the number of trucks entering Gaza; food pallets distributed, and even calories provided. Ultimate proof of success will be found through tracking food security and nutritional status over time. There are tentative signs that organised efforts are working once again. The Famine Review Committee report that there are no areas of the Strip currently in famine. Malnutrition rates decreased slightly in October last year. This is all relative of course. The situation on the ground remains dire, with food insecurity at high levels in 77% of the population. Projections to April 2026 suggest that 100,000 children and 37,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women will continue with acute malnutrition, its associated morbidity and mortality. ^{32, 33}

The UN’s January report is encouraging, but to significantly improve nutrition and the lives of the people of Gaza, a very long road lies ahead.

References

Gaza: 100 per cent of basic food neees met for the first time since 2023. UN News [Internet]. 2026 Jan 5, 2026 [cited 2026 Jan 15]. Available from: https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/01/11
Sphere Association. The Sphere Handbook: Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response. Fourth Edition [Internet]. Geneva, Switzerland: Sphere Association; 2018. Available from: https://handbook.spherestandards.org/en/sphere/#ch001
WFP Staff. All you need to know about the WFP food basket. World Food Programme [Internet]. 2025 Jan 8 [cited 2026 Jan 15]. Available from: https://www.wfp.org/stories/wfp-food-basket/
One Million People in Gaza Receive WHP Food Boxes but More Crossings Needed for Continued Scale-Up. World Food Programme [Internet]. 2025 Nov 4 [cited 2026 Jan 16]. Available from: https://wfpusa.org/news/one-million-people-gaza-receive-wfp-food-boxes/
Chefs for Gaza. WCK Adds New Large Capacity Kitchen in North Gaza. World Central Kitchen [Internet]. 2025 Dec 7 [cited 2026 Jan 16]. Available from: https://wck.org/news/new-north-gaza-kitchen/
Chefs for Gaza. Your Questions Answered. Updated January 2026. World Central Kitchen [Internet]. 2026 Jan 6 [cited 2026 Jan 17]. Available from: https://wck.org/news/gaza-questions/
Treatment of Severe Acute Malnutrition. Ready-to-use Therapeutic Food (RUTF). Nutriset [Internet]. Cited 2026 Jan 17. Available from: https://nutriset.fr/en/products/plumpynut-en/
Latham M, Jonsson U, Sterken E, Kent G. World nutrition commentary. Ready-to-use therapeutic food. RUTF stuff. Can the children be saved with fortified peanut butter paste? [PDF]. Journal of the World Public Health Nutrition Association. 2011 Feb; 2 (2). Available from: https://www.wphna.org/htdocs/downloadsfeb2011/11-02%20WN3%20Comm%20RUTF%20pdf.pdf
Catastrophic hunger in Gaza. To counter it CESVI distributes 18 tonnes of life-saving food. CESVI [Internet]. 2024 Mar 28 [cited 2026 Jan 18]. Available from: https://cesvi.eu/news/catastrophic-hunger-in-gaza-to-counter-it-cesvi-distributes-18-tonnes-of-life-saving-food/
Bright J, Emanuel G, Silver M. Where’s Plumpy’Nut? A lifesaving food for malnourished kids is caught up in U.S. cuts. NPR [Internet]. 2025 Apr 25 [cited 2026 Jan 19]. Available from: https://www.npr.org/sections/goats-and-soda/2025/04/25/g-s1-62165/malnutrition-children-plumpynut-lifesaving-u-s-aid
OCHA: Last lifelines for Gaza city civilians collapsing amid intensified military operations. United Nations; The Question of Palestine [Internet]. 2025 Sep 18 [cited 2026 Jan 19]. Available from: https://www.un.org/unispal/document/ocha-press-release-18sep25/
TOI Staff. For second day in a row, protestors block aid reaching Gaza from Israel. The Times of Israel [Internet]. 2024 Jan 24 [cited 2026 Jan 21]. Available from: https://www.timesofisrael.com/for-second-day-in-a-row-protesters-block-aid-reaching-gaza-from-israel/
Fried S. The struggle to aid Hamas continues: Nitzana crossing blocked, trucks left outside. Makor Rishon [Internet]. 2024 Feb 27 [cited 2025 Feb 17]. Available from: https://www.makorrishon.co.il/news/739251.
Right-wing activists vandalize aid shipment headed to Gaza, set 2 trucks alight. Times of Israel [Internet]. 2024 May13 [cited 2025 Feb 17}. Available from: https://www.timesofisrael.com/right-wing-activists-block-vandalize-aid-shipment-headed-to-gaza.
Turgeman M and Morag G. Commissioner to Attorney General: Ben Gvir instructed his deputies not to secure aid convoys and threatened consequences when I refused. Ynet [Internet]. 2024 Jul 13 [cited 2025 Feb 17]. Available from: https://www.ynet.co.il/news/article/hj6opjuba.
Estrin D. Israel’s military dismisses officers over World Central Kitchen airstrike. NPR [Internet]. 2024 Apr 5 [cited 2026 Jan 22]. Available from: https://www.npr.org/2024/04/05/1242986585/israels-military- dismisses-officers-over-world-central-kitchen-airstrike.
OCHA. UN relief chief decries ‘bullets and bombs’ against aid workers [Internet]. OCHA. 2024 Nov 22 [cited 2026 Jan 22]. Available from: https://www.unocha.org/publications/report/world/un-relief-chief-decries-bullets-and-bombs-against-aid-workers.
Borger J. Biden announces US will build pier on Gaza shore for large scale aid delivery. The Guardian [Internet]. 2024 Mar 8 [cited 2026 Jan 22]. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/07/biden-us-port- gaza-aid-delivery.
Michaelson R. US military releases images of aid pier under construction off Gaza coast. The Guardian [Internet]. 2024 Apr 30 [cited 2026 Jan 22]. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/29/us-navy-ship- off-gaza-coast-building-part-of-aid-platform-images-show.
US denies Gaza aid pier was used in deadly hostage rescue operation. The National [Internet]. 2024 Jun 9 [cited 2025 Mar 18]. Available from: https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2024/06/09/us- denies-gaza-aid-pier-was-used-in-deadly-hostage-rescue- operation.
Reidy E. US Gaza pier to close after costing $230M for a day’s worth of aid. The New Humanitarian [Internet]. 2024 Jul 16 [cited 2026 Jan 31]. Available from: https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/analysis/2024/07/16/us- gaza-pier-close-after-costing-230-million-days-worth-aid.
FAO. Land available for cultivation in the Gaza Strip as of 28 July 2025 [PDF]. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [cited 2026 Jan 31]. Available from: https://openknowledge.fao.org/items/3a966c1f-c31b-4550-90bb-eca8efbe9c1f
Lakhani N. Only 1.5% of Gaza cropland left for starving Palestinians due to Israel’s war, UN says. Guardian [Internet] 2025 Aug 6 [cited 2026 Jan 31]. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/06/israel-gaza-war-palestinian-cropland-starvation
Qurbani 2026/Give Their Share. Global Rahmah Foundation [Internet]. Cited 2026 Jan 31. Available from: https://grfuk.org/islamic-giving/qurbani-donation
Make your sacrifice for Palestine. iF Foundation Charity [Internet]. Cited 2026 Jan 31. Available from: https://www.ifcharity.org.uk/campaign/qurbani2025/
El Bilbeisi AH. Prevalence of nutritional anemia and its risk factors in children under five in the Gaza Strip. Front Nutr. 2025 Feb 12; 12:1496494. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1496494. PMID: 40013160; PMCID: PMC11860101.
Hidden Hunger: Micronutrient Deficiencies in the West Bank and Gaza—World Bank Article. United Nations. The Question of Palestine [Internet]. 2022 Jun 20 [cited 2026 Jan 31]. Available from: https://www.un.org/unispal/document/hidden-hunger-micronutrient-deficiencies-in-the-west-bank-and-gaza-world-bank-article/
Windle EM. Failure, Fatalities and Falsehood. The Dire Legacy of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. 2026 Jan 2 [cited 2026 Jan 31]. Available from: https://windlefreelance.com/2026/01/02/failure-fatalities-and-falsehood-the-dire-legacy-of-the-gaza-humanitarian-foundation/
Nguyden K, Murray A. What is inside the GHF food aid box being distributed in Gaza? BBC Verify [Internet]. 2025 Jul 26 [cited 2025 Dec 23]. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd787er1qz4o
WHO and UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) Report. Progress on Drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene: 2017 Update and Sustainable Development Goal Baselines [Internet]. WHO and UNICEF; 2017 [cited 2024 Nov 20]. Available from: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/qtllzjcbwrfcml75cdiwq/Section-1-Highlights-June-20-revised-July-10-docx?rlkey=jhabslybug8t7d75mvshan6o6&e=1&dl=0.
100 days into ceasefire Gaza still deliberately deprived of water as aid groups forced to scavenge under illegal blockade. Oxfam [Internet]. 2026 Jan 14 [cited 2026 Jan 31]. Available from: https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/100-days-ceasefire-gaza-still-deliberately-deprived-water-aid-groups-forced-scavenge
UN agencies welcome news that famine has been pushed back in the Gaza Strip, but warn fragile gains could be reversed without increased and sustained support. World Health Orghanization [Internet]. 2025 Dec 19 [cited 2026 Jan 31]. Available from: https://www.who.int/news/item/19-12-2025-un-agencies-welcome-news-that-famine-has-been-pushed-back-in-the-gaza-strip-but-warn-fragile-gains-could-be-reversed-without-increased-and-sustained-support
Gaza Strip: Famine conditions offset, but situation remains critical/16 October 2025 – 15 April 2026 [PDF]. Integrated Food Security Phase Classification. 2025 Dec 19 [cited 2026 Jan 31].

Developmental Editing for Enhancing Non-Fiction Book Quality

E. Mark Windle 16 February 2025.

Editing is an essential part of refining a book to optimise its readability and impact prior to publication. A number of editing activities exist that have the ability to improve manuscript appeal. Each is of equal importance:

Developmental editing: considers the book as a whole. An evaluation and advice on structure, flow and cohesion of content
Line editing: a “sentence level” focus on writing style, tone and clarity
Copyediting: analysing and addressing issues with grammar, punctuation etc.
Proofreading: a final check to identify and address typographical errors and consistency of formatting

Beta reading

Beta reading is a read-through of the draft by one or more casual readers to give an early indication of the book’s “feel” to a general market. Readers at this stage may be friends, other writers or volunteer readers from the target demographic.

Beta reading typically occurs after the first or second draft, and before formal editing proceeds. While various guidelines exist to assist beta readers in giving feedback, it is an intentionally subjective process. Responses may centre around themes of relevance and interest; confusion and ambiguity; and where deficits may exist.

Developmental editing in close-up

The terms developmental editing and structural editing are often used interchangeably. Some in the industry consider these as related but distinct ‘big picture’ roles—developmental input may start earlier, has a coaching element and focuses on concepts and outlines, while structural edits involve analysis of passages and chapter structure, organisation and cohesion. In practice, many developmental editors provide a service which encompasses all these elements.

One purpose of developmental editing is to assess the core foundation of the draft— does it deliver its intentions? Has the draft been written in a way that engages the intended readership through its core message and how the story has been presented? Non-fiction developmental editing analyses the logical flow of text: the appropriateness of chapter order and content outlines, the location of specific information, historical / chronological order, relevance of passages, and how images or data are arranged within the body of the text. The editor also considers where ambiguity exists and provides advice on how to achieve clarity.

Examples of advice may be to remove certain repetitive anecdotes, events or passages; to transfer others to different locations within the draft; to extract data from the text and present as appendices; or to suggest the inclusion of further information to provide deeper emphasis.

What is not developmental editing? It’s not line or copy editing. It also does not usually include the fact-checking of names, dates, events or technical points that may fall under the remit of copy editing. With data-heavy text, fact checking may be considered a separate process. That said, some fact checking may be necessary and undertaken by the editor in the course of assessing clarity.

Unless agreed as an additional part of the contract, the developmental editor does not undertake the actual rewrite of the draft: that remains the responsibility of the writer. The role of the editor is to provide the client with a constructive and clear, actionable plan to improve the quality of the manuscript. Through provision of documented analysis and advice such as a manuscript evaluation report and annotated manuscript, the writer is given the tools to enhance the quality of their draft.

Developmental editing at Windlefreelance.com

Our service includes all aspects of non-fiction developmental / structural editing as described above for an existing book draft. A free, ‘no-obligation’ discussion is offered to gain insight to your project, answer any queries and to consider how our service could be best tailored to your needs. Following agreement to proceed, a contract will be drawn up to confirm mutually agreed timescales, milestones for deliverables and payment schedules.

Deliverables will include a detailed manuscript evaluation report. This report will refer to positive developmental and structural aspects of your draft, elements which require consideration, and recommendations for how these issues can be best addressed.

You will also be provided with a fully annotated manuscript containing comments on specific issues relating to chapters, pages or passages (where appropriate, more detailed comments will be found in the manuscript evaluation report). Additionally, annotations may refer to minor findings or suggestions which do not appear in the manuscript evaluation report. These may include some copy or line editing issues which lie outside the remit of the developmental editing contract but have been found incidentally.

Windlefreelance.com focuses on non-fiction developmental editing. Packages which also include copy/line editing and proof reading can be arranged. These particular services may be outsourced to trusted freelance partners.

For more information or to arrange a call, contact us here

A Nickel And A Nail Focusing on Publishing Imprint from March 2026

E. Mark Windle 12 February 2026.

From 1st March 2026, A Nickel And A Nail will be focusing activities purely on publishing and freelance writing activities rather than book retail. Current customers who are subscribed to the bookstore mailing list should have already received notification.

Future book sales will be through our eBay outlet. The decision to avoid using Amazon as an online merchant platform has been made on ethical grounds—the association with Israel through its Project Nimbus contract places Amazon high on our boycott list.

Please note our eBay sales will be restricted to domestic (UK) customers only. However all publications on the ANAAN imprint can ordered by overseas customers via Lulu.com. Lulu offers print-on-demand facilities on most continents, which should provide postage benefits and avoid customs charges.

Failure, Fatalities and Falsehood: The Dire Legacy of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation

E. Mark Windle 2 January 2026

From a chronological perspective, my previous book The Hundred Year Hunger ended tracking events in Gaza with its publication during Spring 2025. At that point, Trump’s idea of a US takeover of Gaza was being proposed, and a separate “Arab Plan” for reconstruction was under discussion in Cairo. Meanwhile, over 90% of women and children were unable to meet their nutritional needs, and the Israeli blockade was an ever-present barrier to receiving food aid.

It’s a safe bet that even those exposed to the most limited or biased news outlets are aware the Gaza story is constantly unfolding—including the ongoing slaughter of hundreds of Palestinians since the empty declaration of a ceasefire in October last year. It was inevitable then that a follow-up book was on the cards. Key points of reference to continue the timeline of nutritional welfare issues were needed, though the search wasn’t difficult. One was the announcement in August 2025 that famine was occurring in the northern Gaza governate and was likely to spread to other regions within weeks.

Another major topic was the creation of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the Israeli-US enterprise that marketed promises of improving Palestinian welfare through a new way of aid delivery, but whose activities were plagued by suspicion and controversy from the outset. In all things Gaza, there exists cycles of claim and counterclaim, perpetuated by falsification, ambiguity and—largely due to restrictions of access for international journalists—difficulties in fact-checking. The history of the GHF has escaped none of that.

Motives for control of aid handling

While much of the GHF origin story remains a mystery (including some of its funding sources), there is no dispute over its backing by Israel and the US. Nor is any secret made of the strained relationship between Israel and the United Nations or its associated bodies. An obvious demonstration of this has been Israel’s ban of UNRWA: one of the first agencies to support the diaspora created at the beginning of the Nakba in the 1940s.

Israel’s constant narrative used in defence of its blockade on Gaza and the stranglehold on aid agencies through border closure is that the presence of Hamas necessitates these steps. That extends to control of aid handling. Israel claims that Hamas regularly intercepts and acquires goods from UN trucks enroute or at aid sites. The UN and others deny this is a significant problem. The concept of an Israeli-US backed distribution venture has also been viewed by many as a blatant attempt to polish Israel’s global image and to override existing UN / UNRWA work.

GHF structure and operational plan

In February 2025, the GHF was officially registered as a private company in Delaware. The following month, US and Israeli government officials confirmed establishment of the GHF, with a structure involving US private security contractors Safe Reach Solutions, UG Solutions, and the Boston Consulting Group. The first Executive Director, Jake Woods, was appointed, only to resign after two weeks. In his opinion the GHF’s objectives did not have fundamental humanitarian principles at their core. ^{1, 2}

The plan included four centralised distribution hubs, in contrast to the UN’s 400. These were located at Rafah, Tal al-Sultan, Khan Younis and Wadi Gaza. Three were in the south—where there was already a strong Israeli military presence, and prior evacuation orders had cleared the immediate area of civilians. IDF soldiers and armed US security personnel were positioned at or near hubs.

Aid supply would occur once or twice per month, at specific times announced online. By May, and with the promise of delivering aid to more than one million civilians within a week, the GHF commenced its sessions to deliver pre-packed food items, hygiene and medical kits.

Food parcel contents and nutritional adequacy

By late July 2025, the GHF claimed it had provided 91 million meals. These were primarily as standard food parcels, though the organisation didn’t publicly share a description of the contents until two months later. Since Gaza was still largely off-limits to international journalists, Kevin Nguyen and Alex Murray reported on the packages for BBC Verify using the images supplied, additional information from the GHF, and commentary from nutritional experts. ³

Images posted on a GHF social media account were of mainly dried foods which required water and fuel to cook such as pasta, various beans, split peas, chickpeas and flour. In addition, cooking oil, salt, sesame paste and ready-to-eat foods (halva snack bars rather than meal items) were provided.

BBC Verify were provided with information on weights and basic nutritional content. Each aid box weighed 19.5kg and provided a total of 42,500 kcal, estimated to be enough to feed 5.5 people for half a week. The GHF stated that potatoes and onions were also being delivered, though no detail on quantities were provided.

Relevant experts were consulted by BBC Verify on nutritional adequacy. It was accepted that the parcels could be a means of attending to the immediate challenge of limiting the rapid development of acute malnutrition from a caloric perspective. Beyond that however, parcels provided inadequate cover for various vitamin, mineral and trace elements. Professor Stuart Gordon from the London School of Economics felt that near-exclusive reliance on food packages could exacerbate existing levels of anaemia and scurvy. Associate Professor Andrew Seal, University College London, added that levels were inadequate in respect of calcium, zinc, iron, vitamin C and some B vitamins.

An overriding issue was the availability of potable water, and not only for drinking use. Without water for cooking purposes, the supply of dried foods itself a failed concept.

Calls for GHF closure

Multiple NGOs expressed concerns with how the GHF was rolling out distributions and case reports of violence. A UN press release in August 2025 highlighted concerns from Francesca Albanese and ten other Special Rapporteurs that Israel, as a backer of the GHF was abandoning its legal responsibility under the Geneva Convention to fully protect Gazan civilians during aid sessions. ⁴ In the first two months of opening, 859 people had been killed at or near GHF hubs.

The UN commented that the GHF were not accounting for the needs of the most vulnerable. Women, children, the elderly and those with disabilities were likely to be physically unable to make the journey due to site centralisation. In another communication, UNICEF pointed out that the weight of GHF aid boxes was an obvious limitation for children and the weak unable to carry heavy loads by hand over long distances. ⁵

Closure and the GHF impact report

By Autumn was a shift in dynamics of the conflict, at least in terms of rhetoric, and operations were shut down. Within the detail of the ceasefire agreement effective from 10 October 2025, a clause stated aid distribution was to fall back to the UN and other recognised agencies, for reasons undisclosed. Critics postulated those as being international pressure, the now globally visible failure of GHF as another factor in the downward spiral of Israel’s PR image, and an unwillingness on anyone’s part to continue funding an outfit with monthly expenses of over 140 million US dollars. ⁶

Indeed, beyond initial cash injection from the US and a mysterious donor (rumoured to be Israel itself), struggles regarding financing were a running theme. Also relevant to ceasefire arrangements, three GHF hubs would sit by default inside new no-go areas for Palestinians, meaning there would be the need for closure and re-establishment elsewhere.

Even post-closure of the GHF came the inevitable kind of obdurate denial now normalised by the Israeli government, the IDF and complicit nations. The impact report published in November 2025 ⁷ and available via the GHF website has been viewed by many as demonstration in institutional whitewashing. In it, Executive Director John Acree proclaimed that the organisation had built “an alternative model that worked—one that saved lives and restored dignity to civilians in Gaza” and referred to “a successful mission… (that) laid the groundwork for a ceasefire and for the future of Gaza”.

The tone throughout the rest of the report was that of hubs being places of calm and exuberant appreciation from civilians who attended them. Other claims followed:

GHF was never intended to be a long-term solution, but a temporary bridge
During its 4.5 months run, 187 million meals were delivered, reaching “tens of thousands of people each day (and) built the trust of the people we served”
Three million food boxes were delivered
Hubs were clearly marked for civilians
GHF repeatedly invited coordination with UN agencies and international NGOs to combine and coordinate efforts
No truck-diversion or looting incidents occurred
GHF collaborated with Samaritan’s Purse medical teams to provide maternal and infant care at the sites

Assuming GHF’s pride on its real-time tracking, formal accounting and audit systems was justified, some of the statistics may be interpreted as accurate. According to one report however, there were questionable elements of its quality assurance processes. ⁸ It was also true that the UN and other agencies refused to work with the GHF. However, as vocalised by these groups, the desire was stronger to avoid complicity in actions that put civilians in physical danger, and which ignored basic humanitarian principles. The GHF collaboration with Samaritan’s Purse to provide medical support at the sites did occur, although this was on a very small scale, using a six-member team of paramedics and nurses across all GHF sites. ⁹

BBC Panorama documentary “Gaza: Dying for Food”

Other aspects, including the physical ease of civilians to reach the sites and the visibility of hubs and their boundaries, were in complete contrast to what had been uncovered a couple of months earlier. Presented by BBC International Editor Jeremy Bowen, the TV documentary “Gaza: Dying for Food” aired its investigation of the GHF on 22 September 2025. ¹⁰Panorama used a combination of direct witness interviews, commissioned Palestinian freelancers already inside Gaza, and analysed satellite images, camera stills and video footage. Statistics and reported facts were verified with independent and reliable sources as far as possible.

Key findings from the programme reinforced concerns already made by Francesca Albanese and colleagues, and provided additional compelling indictments:

The few available GHF hubs (and closure of the first site within 3 weeks) meant extremely long journeys on foot were necessary, often causing frustration and desperation by the time civilians reached the hubs.
Bowen interviewed an Israeli soldier present at one of the GHF sites during the summer of 2025. The witness reported that opening times at the hubs would alter every day. Civilians would need to have online access to social media to be aware of the times. The amount of notice given was often very short.
The soldier commented that crowds were often hungry and in a frenzy. Soldiers were ordered to fire warning shots to hold back the crowd until the allotted opening time. Green and red lines marked the hub perimeters. Green lines were where warning shots were to be fired. Soldiers were permitted to use lethal force if anyone crossed the red line. The soldier also noted that the sites were so badly planned that lines were not always clear to civilians, and shooting was often random and uncontrolled.
When the BBC approached senior IDF representatives about the use of red and green lines and indiscriminate shooting, these points were not addressed, other than confirming some civilians were harmed and that lessons were learned.
GHF officials had claimed sites could potentially open for up to five hours at a time. However, BBC analysis of schedules and related resources indicated that the maximum time any site was open for was 46 minutes. The average across all distribution episodes was 12 minutes.
A Palestinian boy named Abdullah was shot (along with 18 others on the same day) at one particular hub, more than 500 metres from the perimeter and outside the site entrance. Panorama’s analysis of camera footage confirmed gunfire came from the direction of the site, which was under complete control of Israeli forces at the time. Despite this, the IDF denied any civilians were deliberately shot or killed.
An NHS vascular surgeon who had treated hundreds of gunshot wounds at Nassar Hospital was frequently told by patients and accompanying individuals that the injuries were caused by GHF security personnel or the IDF shooting directly into the crowds.
An unidentified GHF whistleblower who worked and filmed secretly at a number of hubs described how people tended to gather before site opens to get in front of the surge for food. Many GHF contracted staff were former US soldiers and would routinely fire warning shots without justification. Civilians would frequently be referred to in a derogatory manner as the shooting intensified.

Panorama approached an Israeli Ambassador and IDF senior representatives for a response to the programme’s findings. Both declined to be interviewed. Independently of the Panorama programme, other BBC investigative journalism has captured further witness accounts and reports of indiscriminate shooting at various GHF hubs, which Isreal and the GHF continued to either deny or blame Hamas.

As expected, pro-Israel lobbyists quickly registered their complaints. One claim of biased journalism which leaned disproportionately on Palestinian-sourced data. Another was the programme’s selective use of data from the US-led Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), while ignoring eye-witness reports—also from ACLED—that Hamas and “unidentified Palestinian gunmen” were responsible for some deaths near distribution centres. ¹¹ Of course, it is critically important to determine the nature of all shootings that occurred at or near all sites. The reality is that a truly comprehensive, objective exploration of events will only occur in a legal setting, and primarily through accumulated testimony—if indeed investigations of accountability ever reach a court. There is one known: statistics indicate that civilians were more likely to be killed or injured at one of the four GHF hubs than at hundreds of UN sites.

Inefficiency and falsification

Quite apart from the use of militarisation and its lethal consequences, was the GHF even effective in getting food to the Gazan population? According to a fund approval review by USAID, GHF’s risk management plan lacked guarantees that the stated amount of aid would actually reach the intended recipients. ⁸ The limitations of operations also speak for themselves. Extreme centralisation of a service that reduces accessibility for the masses; particularly for the most vulnerable. Poorly planned food box content. Little notice of site opening times. A requirement to receive social media notifications in an environment; where, in some regions, power and communications are scarce. Extremely short open sessions.

On the subject of actual food delivered, the GHF previously claimed that it had delivered up to 8,000 boxes of food within a few hours. Other agencies consider this as fantasy. Even those well versed in aid handling dispense 500-1,000 boxes at best in one day. Multiple unrelated eyewitnesses at the Rafah site reported a typical amount of five or six pallets of boxes at most, again casting doubt on GHF efficiency claims. There is even ambiguity over extrapolation of parcel contents to an equivalent number of “meals” provided, since they were unprepared and mainly dried carbohydrate staple items, with very little protein content. ¹²

Given the GHF’s contribution to human rights breaches and the need for accountability, its closure brings only limited solace. At least failings have been publicly exposed by diverse sources: NGOs, Palestinian civilians, nutrition experts, whistleblowers, journalists and objective forensic analysis. The GHF isn’t the first expensive failure which provided little alleviation in the suffering of the Palestinian people. In 2024, a $240 million US floating pier project promised significant aid delivery but ended up being partly used for military means and supplied the equivalent of one day’s food before the idea was abandoned. The GHF model is now also assigned to the bin. The fear is what will be next.

References

Jeong A. Gaza Humanitarian Foundation head resigns, casting more doubt on aid plan. The Washington Post [Internet]. 2025 May 25 [cited 2025 Dec 21]. Available from: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/05/25/gaza-humanitarian-foundation-aid-jake-wood/
Diamond J. Head of controversial new Gaza aid group says he won’t be part of displacing Palestinians, urges UN to participate in plan. CNN [Internet]. 2025 May 16 [cited 2025 Dec 21]. Available from: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/05/16/middleeast/israel-gaza-humanitarian-foundation-interview-latam-intl
Nguyden K and Murray A. What is inside the GHF food aid box being distributed in Gaza? BBC Verify [Internet]. 2025 Jul 26 [cited 2025 Dec 23]. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd787er1qz4o
UN experts call for immediate dismantling of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. OHCHR Press Release [Internet]. 2025 Aug 5 [cited 2025 Dec 23]. Available from: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/08/un-experts-call-immediate-dismantling-gaza-humanitarian-foundation\
Graham-Harrison E. Israel-backed food aid group admits it won’t be able to reach most vulnerable in Gaza. The Guardian [Internet]. 2025 May 17 [cited 2025 Dec 28]. Available from: https://theguardian.com/world/2025/may/17/israel-backed-food-aid-group-admits-it-wont-be-able-to-reach-most-vulnerable-in-gaza
Amit H. Over $140 Million a Month: The Secret Source Funding Gaza Humanitarian Aid. Haaretz [Internet]. 2025 May 29 [cited Dec 30, 2025]. Available from: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-05-29/ty-article/.premium/over-140-million-a-month-the-secret-source-funding-gaza-humanitarian-aid/00000197-171f-de0d-a7f7-b77f347c0000
Gaza Humanitarian Foundation Impact Report. November 2025 [PDF] [cited 2025 Dec 20]. Available from: https://ghf.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Gaza-Humanitarian-Impact-Report-November-2025.pdf
Abou-Ghazala Y and Hansler J. CNN. July 8, 2025. USAID review raised ‘critical concerns’ over Gaza aid group days before $30 million US grant. CNN [Internet]. 2025 Jul 8 [cited 2025 Dec 30]. Available from: https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/08/us/usaid-gaza-humanitarian-foundation-israel-grant
Shimron Y. Samaritan’s Purse Joins Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s Aid Efforts in Gaza. Ministry Watch [Internet]. 2025 Aug 25 [cited 2025 Dec 30]. Available from: https://ministrywatch.com/samaritans-purse-joins-gaza-humanitarian-foundations-aid-efforts-in-gaza/
BBC Panorama. Gaza: Dying for Food [Documentary]. BBC One. 2025 Sep 22 [cited 2025 Dec 30]. Available from: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002jxm2/panorama-gaza-dying-for-food
How the BBC lost the Public’s Trust—One Gaza Documentary at a Time. Conservative Post [Internet]. 2025 Oct 5 [cited 2025 Dec 30]. Available from: https://conservativepost.co.uk/how-the-bbc-lost-the-publics-trust-one-gaza-documentary-at-a-time/
Bronte TD and Pires LS. Scarce, poor in nutrition, and very difficult to cook: The mirage of food aid from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. El País [Internet]. 2025 Jun 9 [cited 2025 Dec 31]. Available from: https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-06-09/scarce-poor-in-nutrition-and-very-difficult-to-cook-the-mirage-of-food-aid-from-the-gaza-humanitarian-foundation.html

Before the Wind Cried Mary

E. Mark Windle 21 October 2025.

A story of the early days of Hendrix, The King Kasuals and the Nashville R&B scene

Motown had The Funk Brothers, Stax had The Memphis Horns, Muscle Shoals had The Swampers, and Nashville’s Black music scene had The King Kasuals. Er, wait a minute. Who?

The partnership that existed between Jimi Hendrix, Billy Cox and later Johnny Jones as members of The King Kasuals may be a less documented part of his life. But as Jimi once commented, that was when he really learned to play guitar.

The yarn of The King Kasuals (later spelled with a “C”) is hard to pin down fully, since it features numerous personnel changes, and complex amalgamations with other bands. If we are talking origin stories though, that lay with Hendrix and Cox in the very early 1960s while both were still in the 101st Airborne at Fort Campbell. Along with fellow soldiers Gary Ferguson on drums and sax player Major Washington, The Kasuals (as they were known then) were a popular act in the servicemen clubs and off-base at the Pink Poodle Club in Clarksville, TN.

ARRIVING AT JEFFERSON STREET

In truth though, Hendrix was never cut out for the military. He often found himself up on report for breaches of protocol and sleeping on duty. Within a year both Hendrix and Cox managed to find themselves discharged from service.

From left: Jimi Hendrix at an unknown 1960s Nashville nightclub, with singers Leona Douglas and Jean Gilbert, an unidentified musician, and singer Yvonne Gilbert (image courtesy of the Gilbert family).

In the search for work they drifted to Nashville, and took up an apartment above a Jefferson Street beauty store. These days, save some small pockets of redevelopment, the area surrounding Jefferson Street has been bulldozed, cleared or left derelict. Fifty or sixty years ago though it was a different story—Jefferson Street was a vibrant entertainment area for the Black community lined with bars, diners and nightclubs; and was a focal point for local and visiting blues and R&B performers.

CLUB RESIDENCY

The Del Morocco on 2417 Jefferson St. was a plush dinner club venue with a two hundred patron capacity, owned by Theodore “Uncle Teddy” Acklen. The newly formed King Kasuals (now with additional musicians) had secured a one-year residency. Most weeks they would play the Del Morocco, then gig through the rest of the week on the chitlin’ circuit within a few hundred miles radius of Nashville.

By 1963, Cox changed the name of the band temporarily to Billy Cox and the Sandpipers, influenced by the name of a local night club. Record rep Hoss Allen had just left his post at Chess and had returned to Nashville to get more involved in production and promotion. He invited Cox along to cover some session work at the Starday-King studios for some local acts he potentially wanted to record. Cox brought Hendrix along with him. From then on, the pair were to appear on a number of recordings including Frank Howard and the Commanders’ soulful “I’m So Glad” (also written by Cox). Frank informed me once that Hoss had to instruct the sound engineers to turn the over-enthusiastic Jimi way down in the mix…

Johnny Jones was next to join The Kasuals, and was nominated band leader. Tennessee-born Jones had moved to Memphis and Chicago as a youngster, where he learned his craft as a blues guitarist under the supervision of Junior Wells and Freddie King. By 1961 Jones had settled in Nashville and was already working as a session musician. As a performer, he was a member of The Imperial Seven (a.k.a. The Imperials), coincidentally another band who were resident at another Teddy Acklen club on Jefferson Street. This was where Johnny would first meet with Hendrix.

One version of The Imperials, at the New Era Club, early 1960s (image credit: Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum)

NASHVILLE TV AND THE WANDERING YEARS OF HENDRIX

After further personnel changes within The Imperials and The King Kasuals, Jones, Hendrix and Cox came together as a performing group in their own right; supporting visiting acts in the area on the chitlin’ circuit and undertaking session work. During this time, local vocalist Jimmy Church had caught their attention. Church was a confident singer and performer on stage, with a fair degree of recording experience behind him already. As The King Kasuals’ local reputation grew, they were approached to be the resident outfit on R&B TV shows Night Train and The !!!! Beat, with Jimmy Church taking a hand in everything from solo performances and providing vocal backing to other artists, to playing percussion.

For Hendrix, 1964 to 1966 was a prolific, if wandering, period. Look in any book at the discography of Hendrix and you’ll see he was all over the east coast, moving from band to band while still intermittently playing with The King Kasuals. Church reports that this was largely due to his association with the flamboyant MC and singer Gorgeous George, who encouraged Hendrix to follow him on his chitlin’ circuit rounds. In a remarkably short period of time, Hendrix was given the opportunity to back a plethora of acts including The Isley Brothers, Don Covey, The Tams, Little Richard and Curtis Knight and the Squires. It was through these musical diversions Hendrix would finally meet Animals’ bass guitarist Chas Chandler and his manager during a gig at Greenwich Village, New York— a connection which ultimately lured him to the UK.

JOHN RICHBOURG AND SOUND STAGE 7 RECORDS

Around the time of the departure of Hendrix, the group name changed again to Johnny Jones and the King Casuals. With Jones as band leader and Jimmy Church as lead singer, live performances were recommenced. White Detroit keyboardist and arranger Bob Wilson even joined forces with Cox and Jones at one point to provide session work on recordings by artists on Nashville’s (mostly R&B) Sound Stage 7 label, operated by WLAC DJ, John Richbourg.

Jimmy Church’s first direct connection with John Richbourg would come in 1965–66 when they produced some worthy if unreleased material, including “Soul Shack”, “Faith In Me” and others, which would not surface until the 2007 CD The Rich Records Story. Richbourg carried the Rich artist contracts over to Sound Stage 7, which saw a re-release of “Right On Time” a year later, and the ballad double-sider “Twinkle” / “You’ve Got Me (In The Palm Of Your Hand)”.

Jimmy Church, circa 1964 (image courtesy of Jimmy Church)

THE WILLIAM BELL / PEACHTREE RECORDS CONNECTION

In 1968, The King Casuals came to the attention of William Bell’s manager Henry Wynn, who headed the Supersonic Attractions booking agency out of Atlanta. The agency had been contracted to supply the band and support artists for an upcoming tour headed by Jackie Wilson, The Impressions and Barbara Mason. Most of the support acts were not held within a recording contract at that time, so Bell and Wynn formed the Peachtree label as platform for these artists. Wynn also wanted Johnny Jones and his band to back other major artists. Church asked John Richbourg if he could be released from the Sound Stage 7 contract in order to join the band on the tour. Richbourg, riding high with the commercial success of Joe Simon, anotehr SS7 artist, gave him his blessing. Sadly the tour would involve tragedy when Johnny Jones’ horn section and The Impressions’ rhythm section were killed in an automobile accident while travelling the Carolinas.

At the time of the Peachtree signing, Wynn divided Jimmy and the rest of the band into two separate acts, both recording for the label at the same time. Jimmy Church’s frantic soul dancer “Thinking About The Good Times” and the ballad flip “Shadow Of Another Man’s Love” was the initial 45 release for the label, both produced by William Bell. Despite writing both tracks for the label, Jimmy reports he didn’t receive a cent.

In name at least, The King Casuals had one 45 release on the label: “Soul Poppin’ “ / “Blues For The Brothers”. Johnny Jones would also appear uncredited on “Mighty Low — Parts 1 and 2” and “Do Unto Others” / “Hong Kong Harlem”. “Purple Haze” was initially earmarked for a Peachtree release, but Bell and Wynn sought an opportunity for better national distribution. The song caught the attention of major label Brunswick. The group’s own funk rendition of Hendrix’s “Purple Haze” with Johnny Jones on lead vocal went on to become a brief favourite on the UK northern soul scene.

LATER YEARS

The later Jimi Hendrix story of course took a different direction, and that of course is now well documented. Hendrix died aged 27. Johnny Jones continued to perform until his own demise in 2009. Billy Cox continued to play as bassist by Jimi’s side after his meteoric rise to fame at Woodstock, then became the owner of a blues and gospel themed video production company. Cox also co-authored and contributed to a number of biographies on Jimi Hendrix, was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame.

Jimmy Church formed his own revue act in the early 1970s. Managed by South Eastern Attractions out of Birmingham, AL, they proved to be a popular booking on the southern college music scene. Today, Jimmy Church remains active in many ways. To the older African-American community he is regarded as a guardian of local R&B history. As organiser for the Tennessee Rhythm and Blues Society, Church co-ordinates regular events at Carole-Ann’s Café on Murfreesboro Pike in Nashville where artists from previous decades are invited to perform on stage; an acknowledgement of their contribution to the Nashville music scene. The Jimmy Church Band are a popular high profile event act, having performed in the presence of members of the British Royal family in Memphis and in England in recent years, and at inaugural balls for numerous US Governors.

A latter-day Jimmy Church (left) with Michael Gray, Museum Editor of Nashville Country Hall of Fame, and Frank Howard, of Frank Howard and the Commanders. Plugging my Nashville book—saved me the airfare from the UK! (image courtesy of Michael Gray).

Given the extent of his meteoric rise to fame after he landed on UK shores, perhaps it’s not entirely surprising that the early chapters of Jimi Hendrix’s life are less well recorded. But his Nashville period was milestone stuff, with a wealth of musical talent that surrounded him quietly informing his creative genius. Thanks to the likes of Hendrix, Cox, Jones, and Jimmy Church, we have a rich, alternative history to Music City’s past.

(Modified excerpt from the book House of Broken Hearts: The Soul of 1960s Nashville)

(Copyright 2025) E. Mark Windle is a UK-based freelance writer who works with domestic and international clients. He has also worked as a senior writer for Story Terrace (London, UK), and as a ghostwriter for Sheridan Hill / Real Life Stories LLC (North Carolina, USA).

The Keffiyeh—On Culture, Consumerism and Sumud

E. Mark Windle 18 October 2025 (photography: Mandy Farrar)

Sumūd (Arabic, noun: steadfastness, perseverance)

Among the uncertainties that laid ahead for the Global Sumud Flotilla as it sailed towards Gaza recently, there was one known—that its effect on holding the world’s focus on Gaza hasn’t gone unnoticed. Uninformed, or biased armchair critics may have fired their predictable comments about the flotilla as futile saviourism. But another side of society views this non-violent civilian campaign as a genuine international display of empathy; a necessary response in light of government inertia (and in some cases, complicity) to events in Gaza. The flood of support from social media and press reports alluded to that, as have the turn-outs at the ports, or the despatch of naval vessels from more supportive countries to provide ‘surveillance and recovery assistance’.

Media attention also cemented that sense of solidarity, by broadcasting scenes of the vessels preparing to set sail from various ports across Europe and North Africa. A common theme in those images, in addition to crowds bearing Palestinian flags, has been the sight of the keffiyeh: that universally recognised symbol of resistance and resilience.

AN ARAB TRADITION

Depending on the region (or design), you might hear the traditional Arab scarf / headdress referred to by other names. Maybe the hattah, the ghutrah or shemagh. Its original purpose was purely functional. Some say the nomadic Bedouin from the Arabian Peninsula and modern-day Iraq were first to wear it as protection from the sun and desert sand. Indeed, the word kuffiyeh appears to have been derived from the city of Kufa, situated south of Baghdad. Farmers and villagers of Arab lands east of Egypt also adopted the scarf, requiring similar shielding from the dust that blows on the Levant’s largely arid landscape, or to double as a shoulder wrap in cool evenings or during winter.

PALESTINIAN IDENTITY

Over a relatively recent period of time in world history terms—pretty much in the last 100 years—this simple accessory has established itself as a symbol of solidarity, a fashion statement, and an icon of Arab culture. The Arab Revolt of the mid-1930s seems to mark the point where the keffiyeh‘s role extended from a practical one to a proud representation of Palestinian identity, and demand for an end to occupation.

Prior to the Revolt, keffiyeh-wearing was confined primarily to rural fellahin. Wealthier communities had the tarbush, or fez, as their status symbol. But soon Arab rebel leaders were encouraging all Palestinians to adopt the distinct black and white-patterned kuffiyeh that the world instantly recognises today, with its fishnet motif signifying an association with the sea, bold lines referencing trade routes, and curved shapes for olive trees or ears of corn. As a symbol of sumud, the importance of wearing the keffiyeh came to the fore when Israel prohibited public displays of the Palestinian flag in occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip in 1967. That flag ban was only revoked in 1993—to be reinstated once again in 2023 by Itamar Ben-Gvir, Minister of National Security.

(Mandy Farrar)

WESTERN CONSCIOUSNESS AND POLARISATION

There have been many public figures who have worn the keffiyeh. Nelson Mandela, Fidel Castro, PLO leader Yasser Arafat are obvious examples, and without a doubt, these individuals brought the scarf to the attention of the wider world. Considering the political spheres these individuals moved in, the keffiyeh also tends to divide opinion on what it represents. For some international observers, it’s an instantly recognisable display of unity and self-determination, lending itself perfectly to various movements that campaign against social injustice or oppression. Others associate it with darker connotations— radicalism, terrorism, and AK-47s.

These days, society is polarised. The plight of the people of Gaza has brought about global focus, empathy and solidarity. At the same time, the far-right are now given very visible public platforms on domestic issues of race and immigration. Western paranoia bred via these fronts and by biased or state-controlled media has reinforced racist sentiment. We now have increases in hate crime, unprovoked verbal attacks, destruction of property, and violence. In 2023, three college students in Burlington, Vermont were shot on their way to a family dinner, for no determinable reason other than speaking Arabic—and wearing keffiyehs.

THE QUICK BUCK

Hints were about in the 1970s and 1980s that the keffiyeh could become an international fashion accessory as it became adopted initially by youth subculture. Then European fashion houses like Balenciaga, Isabel Marant and Louis Vuitton introduced it to the catwalks, perhaps in admiration for the aesthetic rather than an industry desire to make a political statement.

Ultimately, the scarf and its design filtered down to the high street. China was the first to grab the opportunity for mass production, using a cheaper cotton and polyester blend as opposed to traditional 100% cotton fabric. To this day East Asia continues to be a major exporter to the west and (ironically) to the Arab nations. From a Palestinian perspective, the combination of outside competition plus Israeli tensions has drastically threatened the domestic capacity for keffiyeh production. In 2000, there were 120 textile factories in the West Bank. Within a year of China entering the market, most of these were forced to close.

These days only one commercial Palestinian manufacturer operates in Israeli-occupied West Bank. At its most productive, the Hirbawi family business had a turnover of 750 scarves per day. In 2010, with only two looms operating, 300 keffiyehs were made weekly. That number has increased dramatically in recent years, though frustratingly Hirbawi is unable to meet demand. Most of what is made sells in the West Bank, with a smaller percentage reaching neighbouring Arab countries and Europe.

Whenever fashion co-opts ethnic or traditional clothing and designs, the question of appropriation inevitably comes up. The patterned keffiyeh is now firmly established as a marketable commodity, along with Free Palestine mugs, Gaza-shaped pendant necklaces, watermelon T-shirts and keffiyeh pattern inspired skirts, blouses and cardigans. There will always be drop-shippers and entrepreneurs ready to cash in. Some will also argue—rightly—that despite its association, the print is not an exclusively Palestinian tradition. But I firmly disagree with writer Ellie Violet Bramley’s comment in her Guardian article, The Keffiyeh: Symbol of Palestinian Struggle Falls Victim to Fashion, that keffiyeh print has shifted from ‘activist chic’ to ‘straight-up chic’. There’s a much bigger picture here.

STATEMENT OF GLOBAL SOLIDARITY

World sales of the keffiyeh have not diluted its symbolic importance. Many wearers who are not Palestinian, or even Arab, consider it as visible affirmation of their commitment to support the oppressed or under-represented: that empathy and concern for others (including communities other than their own) still exist even in today’s society.

Purchases support the Palestinian cause in very practical ways too. Sales of scarves and derivative clothing, like those sold by the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, fund resources required for media campaigns, lobbying government, and organising human rights rallies. The fashion outlet Wear the Peace, whose two founders are descendants of refugees, provided 200,000 USD directly to Gaza since last November through profits from their “Palestine Collections” range. Through ethical sourcing, a range of international fashion retailers provide vital links that help Palestinian businesses like Hirbawi to survive.

There has also been an unprecedented demand for the keffiyeh since Israel’s offensive on Gaza. It’s no coincidence that within two months of the escalation in conflict since 7 October 2023, online sales of keffiyehs and traditional Palestinian clothing increased by 330% according to the data analyst company Jungle Scout. Surely, further evidence of the world’s compassion and support for the people of Palestine.

Author bio: E. Mark Windle is a freelance writer and author with interests in human rights and international culture. He has also worked on multiple biographical projects as a senior writer for Story Terrace (London, UK), and as a ghostwriter with Sheridan Hill / Real Life Stories LLC (North Carolina, USA).

Malnutrition, Infection and Poor Wound Healing—Contributors to the Predicted Gaza Death Toll

E. Mark Windle 30 May 2025.

A range of amino acids, vitamins and minerals are essential for the manufacture and functioning of immune cells. Optimum immune function is dependent not only an adequate intake of these nutrients but also on the ability of the body to utilise them. Chronic gastrointestinal disease and related malabsorption, vomiting or reduced intake due to nausea perpetuates the malnutrition-infection cycle.

SOURCES OF INFECTION

Cases of watery diarrhoea in Gaza reported by the Health Cluster and WHO in August 2024 were in excess of 577,000. Data collated by Medecins San Frontieres, other healthcare organisations and emergency clinics suggested another 100,000 cases had occurred by the end of the first year of the conflict. While gastrointestinal disease in Gaza has had bacterial, viral and parasitic origins, a particular culprit has been the viral pathogen Hepatitis A, causing fatigue, nausea and abdominal pain.

The polio virus produces debilitating and often irreversible neurological and neuromuscular damage (rather than gastrointestinal symptoms) but had been completely eradicated from Gaza for 25 years with the rolling-out of vaccination. The rediscovery of the virus during wastewater sampling in July 2024 was deeply concerning, though not entirely surprising given the extreme living and sanitary conditions. Mass vaccination programmes followed the confirmation of the first case of a child paralyzed by polio in Deir al-Balah. Some attempts were thwarted due to bombing in northern Gaza. Meanwhile, the IDF offered immunisation sessions for its soldiers.

Having taken the main force of airstrikes in the early phases of the war, north and central regions were exposed to extremely poor sanitary conditions. Increases in gastrointestinal, respiratory and skin infections reflected this. Outbreaks of parasitic disease such as scabies and lice were also on the rise. To assess the situation, Solutions Consultancy Research and Monitoring performed a survey at household level to assess the situation. To “adjust” for a lack of available water, 78% of families had reduced oral intake and 42% reduced personal hygiene practices. More than three-quarters reported being unable to access soap, sanitary pads, disposable diapers or detergent (for washing dishes) for at least a month. Open sewage was an issue — only one third had access to a functioning toilet. With unhygienic conditions so prevalent, implementation of sanitation-related facilities was essential to break the malnutrition-infection cycle. However, full integration of these at a local level was almost impossible — aid agencies continually fought an uphill battle given extent of the destruction of sanitary facilities, the exponential rise in the incidence of disease, and logistical difficulties of executing vaccination programmes in a war zone.

FOOD POISONING

Other hazards included food poisoning due to transport delays of perishable goods, and a lack of electricity for cooking and refrigeration purposes. Fifteen women and children were hospitalised due to eating spoiled canned products in the Shujaiya region. Accusations from Palestinian Civil Defence that the IDF had deliberately left these goods to cause harm on consumption went unchallenged. In a separate incident, Israeli soldiers suffered food poisoning outbreak caused by Shigella bacterial infection — reportedly as a result of donated food that had been inadequately stored. Foraging and consumption of products intended for animal consumption has also been common practice among Gazan civilians. In the north, children were admitted to Kamal Adwan Hospital with food poisoning after consuming animal feed consisting of straw, barley and corn.

EFFECTS OF MALNUTRITION AND INFECTION ON WOUND HEALING

A number of processes are involved in wound healing, including haemostasis (clotting processes), inflammation (immune cell infiltration at the wound site), proliferation (synthesis of new skin cells, vasculature and collagen) and a final remodelling phase that can take several months before wound resolution or scar formation is complete.

Old age, the presence of diabetes and other non-communicable diseases, and lifestyle factors such as smoking can all negatively influence wound healing. Adequate nutrition is a key part of management — many nutrients are required for optimising immune function and structural repair. Amino acids from dietary protein sources provide the materials for rebuilding muscle and growth, scar formation and for tissues that connect muscle to bone. A range of B vitamins are crucial for red blood cell formation, and in the maintenance of skin and nerve cell integrity. Red blood cell replication is dependent on folic acid and cobalamin (vitamin B12). Vitamin C is found in high amounts in lymphocyte cells. As an antioxidant it also protects against free radicals, harmful by-products produced in biochemical reactions that would otherwise damage vessels and organs. Vitamin E and K are also indirectly involved in wound healing due to their roles in immune function and regulation of blood clotting. It is logical then — and has been repeatedly confirmed through research in elective hospitalised surgical patients — that malnourished subjects have an increased risk of wound infection, delayed wound repair, sepsis, and longer-term complications.

INJURIES SUSTAINED IN THE ISRAEL-HAMAS CONFLICT

Where both nutrition and sanitary conditions are severely compromised in combat zones, the effect is heightened. Medical staff in Gaza frequently reported finding open wounds infested with maggots or remaining unhealed due to chronic bacterial infection, including the emergence of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and other antibiotic-resistant strains. In one Khan Younis clinic operated by the NGO Anera, infected conflict-related wounds were the most common type encountered. Approximately 750 cases were managed per month.

Prior to the Israel-Hamas war, a study of adult burned patients in the Gaza Strip highlighted that a high number of injuries were the result of cooking accidents. In the Anera clinic, burns were the second most common injury seen and reflected a mix of combat and domestic-related incidents. Burn severity is determined by burn size and depth, and age of the patient. These are important predictors of long-term complications and mortality. Regarding size, a major burn injury is usually considered to one affected at least 20% total body surface area (the equivalent surface area of one whole arm or greater, although the actual wound distribution is often not confined to one area). Clinical management requires early rescue and intravenous fluid resuscitation to correct the life-threatening drop in blood volume that occurs as part of the physiological response. Due to the difficulties of accessing emergency services in Gaza, most individuals with major burns are likely to have died at or near where the injury was acquired, whether by airstrike, rigged ground explosions, property fires or white phosphorous airdrops. Aggressive nutritional support to counter the catabolic effects of major burn injury. Dietary protein requirements in the acute phase can be 1.5–2g/kg body weight per day — up to twice that of a non-burned patient. Daily energy needs are also often raised well above baseline.

PREDICTED CONTRIBUTION TO THE DEATH TOLL

Attributing death toll figures “directly” to malnutrition and food insecurity is complex and difficult to assess on a mass scale and in a war zone. Given those caveats, Gaza remains at risk of famine according to the UN and other supporters of the IPC food security monitoring scales. In straightforward terms, it is predicted that 50,000 cases of acute malnutrition in Gazan children will require management in 2025. Latest figures suggest that the ultimate death toll could be as much as 200,000 due to the effect of malnutrition and infected wounds on a sustained background of unresolved sanitation systems, blockades on drinking water and food, and an inability to access appropriate healthcare.

Aid Airdrops in Gaza—Shifting the Danger from Distribution Hubs to the Beaches

E. Mark Windle 26 July 2025.

As cases of severe malnutrition in Gaza continue to rise (and killings continue at the distribution hubs), tonight’s media headline is that Israel is allowing Jordan and UAE to conduct food airdrops in the next few days, apparently with UK involvement.

Deliveries of aid by airdrops have been attempted previously in Gaza, all with limited or zero success. The US, the UK and France have frequently employed airdrops throughout the Israel-Hamas conflict — though ironically this has usually been to deliver arms to Israeli forces rather than provision of humanitarian aid.

Airdrops are costly and extremely inefficient. One UN aid truck has a typical capacity of up to 20 tons of aid. According to UK government figures, each flight drop by the Royal Air Force has averaged around 10 tons. Given that open areas are required for parachute landings, the flat Gazan coastline has been a popular target for drops.

However, packages can land in the sea or present a danger to civilians — in active conflict zones, parachuted palettes of goods may be released from a height of 300 to 5,000 metres. Crowd desperation and the presence of semi-organised gangs waiting for airdrops also result in less-than-fair distribution of items.

And of course, let’s not forget that the IDF have openly declared they will target any Gazans attempting to enter the sea.

“The Hundred Year Hunger. A Timeline of Food Insecurity and Malnutrition in Gaza” by E. Mark Windle is available via A Nickel and a Nail (UK customers only). Non-UK customers should order via Lulu.

For each book sold in 2025, £2 will go to the non-profit World Central Kitchen who provide emergency aid through the provision of cooked meals, and food and water distribution in Gaza and other global regions.