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Boston Consulting Group has put a partner on administrative leave and launched an internal investigation of work relating to Gaza as it said it was involved in a contentious US-backed plan to overhaul aid to the enclave.

The consulting group said on Tuesday it had provided support for the creation of an aid effort that became the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, but that it pulled out of the project last week.

The new GHF-led scheme has been condemned by the UN, long the principal provider of aid to Gaza, as a “fig leaf” for displacement of Palestinians because it uses private contractors and the Israeli military to secure aid supplies to distribution centres located mainly in the south of the enclave.

Distribution sites under the scheme have been the scene of unrest over the past week as starving Palestinians sought to reach supplies, while Israeli troops have repeatedly been accused of shooting at people seeking aid.

“In October 2024, BCG agreed to provide pro bono support to help establish an aid organisation intended to operate alongside multilateral efforts to deliver humanitarian support to Gaza,” a spokesperson for the consulting firm said.

“Unapproved follow-on work relating to Gaza lacked buy-in from multilateral stakeholders and was stopped on May 30 . . . BCG has begun a formal review of the work, and while that review continues, the partner who led this work has been placed on administrative leave.”

BCG did not provide further details of its work with the GHF, which was first reported by The Washington Post, but added that it “has not and will not” be paid for the project.

Asked for comment, GHF did not directly address BCG’s withdrawal but said that it was “undeterred”.

It said: “We remain focused on one thing: getting food to the people who need it most. And right now, we are the only organisation doing that at scale, with consistency and safety.”

The decision by BCG is the latest setback for GHF, whose aid scheme has been boycotted by the UN and other aid groups. They have denounced it as part of Israel’s efforts to force the displacement of Palestinians to south Gaza, and said it violates humanitarian principles.

Israel says the scheme is designed to prevent aid from being diverted to Hamas. However, UN officials say they have not seen any large-scale diversion of aid to the militant group.

In recent days, officials in Gaza have accused Israeli soldiers of killing dozens of Palestinians as they sought to reach the GHF distribution sites. 

In the latest incident on Tuesday, Gaza’s health ministry said 27 people had been killed and dozens more injured as they waited for aid in the Rafah governorate in southern Gaza.

The Israeli military said its soldiers opened fire after they saw several people moving towards them and “deviating from the designated access routes”. It said it was looking into the incident.

GHF has also been beset by internal problems, with its executive director Jake Wood resigning last week. He said: “It is clear that it is not possible to implement this plan while also strictly adhering to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence.”

The group said on Tuesday that it had appointed Johnnie Moore, a US businessman and evangelical Christian leader, as its executive chair.

US consulting firms have become acutely aware of the reputational risks of their international work following a series of controversies.

BCG chair Rich Lesser was hauled before Congress last year alongside McKinsey boss Bob Sternfels to explain work for the Saudi government, while McKinsey’s work in China sparked calls from some Republican lawmakers for it to be stripped of federal contracts.