Gaza Inc.: The secret history of plans for the private management of Palestinian horror

Phil Reilly recalls that, with 300 troops on the ground, the United States managed to defeat the Taliban. He was one of the first CIA agents to set foot in Afghanistan after 9/11. “We crushed them in 45 days,” he recounts in the documentary American Manhunt: Osama Bin Laden.

The intelligence agency’s operation was confidential. More than two decades later, the former head of the spy agency in Kabul continues to work behind the scenes. Reilly is one of the architects of the private management plans for both humanitarian aid to Gaza — currently carried out by U.S. contractors — and for the future reconstruction of the Strip, in ruins after more than a year and a half of Israeli siege. These projects have been developed in secret, criticized by the international community, plagued by countless setbacks, and in the first case, their effectiveness has been questioned following the death of over 600 Palestinian civilians during food distributions.

Reilly, although highly significant, is not the only piece of the erratic puzzle that is Washington and Israel’s attempt to govern the management of the horror in Gaza. In early June, the London-based publication Middle East Eye reported that Reilly had begun talks with Israel about distributing aid to the Gaza Strip as early as 2024, just months after the Israeli military launched its offensive to annihilate Hamas in retaliation for the deaths of 1,200 people at the hands of the Palestinian militants on October 7, 2023. Among other assignments, the former CIA agent was then working as a consultant for the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), an international consultation giant with nearly 60 years of experience.

The firm, previously implicated in bribery payments in Angola to secure contracts, has admitted that two of its partners began work last October to help launch “an aid organization intended to operate” in the Strip. But they did so by withholding information about the “nature” of the project. Neither of these two, according to BCG’s confirmation to EL PAÍS, was Reilly, who was listed only as a senior advisor. The partners involved are Matt Schlueter and Ryan Ordway.

Both were ousted from the consulting firm. Reilly, who was employed by Orbis Operations (owned by the private equity firm McNally Capital) to design aid delivery models through private companies and foundations, served as a liaison. According to Middle East Eye, Orbis contacted the consulting firm on behalf of the Israeli Tachlith Institute think tank.

Help via contractors

Last May, the Israeli security cabinet approved a new mechanism for delivering aid to Gaza outside the United Nations. At the end of that same month, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), run by U.S. contractors, began operations in Gaza. GHF was headed by Safe Reach Solutions (SRS), registered last November in Wyoming by Reilly. Shortly after, the former CIA agent left BCG, according to information provided by the consulting firm.

“We are acting urgently and seriously to learn from this and ensure it never happens again,” BCG said in a June 7 note, distancing itself from the work done by Schlueter and Ordway on the foundations of GHF. The master plan for this new private mechanism devised between Israel and the United States was unveiled in early May. Some of those who appeared in the documents had not even been previously informed. Others, like the organization’s first executive director, Jake Wood, jumped ship before it even sailed.

GHF was registered in Delaware (U.S.) and Geneva (Switzerland). Swiss authorities dissolved the Geneva branch in early July due to a lack of activity there. The document leaked to the press, providing the first outline of the organization’s activities, planned to use Switzerland to attract donations outside the U.S. This was unsuccessful.

Currently, GHF operates under the leadership of businessman and evangelical reverend Johnnie Moore, an advisor to U.S. President Donald Trump. Moore, founder of the public relations firm Kairos Company, maintains close ties with both the Jewish community and the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu. In an appearance in Brussels on July 2, Moore blamed Hamas for the deaths of Palestinians at food distribution points and denounced the diversion of aid, usually managed by U.N. agencies, not only in Gaza but also in other humanitarian crises. He did not name any individuals.

BCG insists that the two partners hired to develop both the food distribution model and future reconstruction plans for the Gaza Strip acted against the explicit objections of the firm’s CEO, Christoph Schweizer. “We completely disavow this work. BCG received no compensation whatsoever,” the firm maintains. However, investigations by newspapers such as The Financial Times and The Washington Post maintain that the consulting firm did receive payments for its services.

The Financial Times, in an article dated July 6, also claims that Israeli businessmen used financing models developed by BCG to develop the so-called Gaza Riviera project, a post-war plan focused on making the Gaza Strip an attractive center for international trade and investment. Among the businessmen cited are Liran Tancman and Michael Eisenberg, two names who appeared on the first organizational chart of the aid distribution organization GHF.

The Tony Blair Institute participated in this work. Once again, the intermediary between the Israeli businessmen and the think tank founded by the former British prime minister was the former CIA agent Reilly.

On July 9, the leader of the British Business and Trade Committee, Liam Byrne, sent a letter to Schweizer, the head of BCG, requesting information about the consultancy firm’s involvement in plans for Gaza, including the possible transfer of Gazans from the territory. “Please describe,” the Labour MP requests in the letter, “the nature and scope of any work undertaken by BCG relating to the possible relocation of Palestinians from Gaza.” “Were any U.K.-based organizations — including companies, NGOs, academics, or think tanks — involved?”

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