U.N. and aid groups refuse to work with GHF, citing lack of neutrality

6/6/2025 5:56

A Chicago-based private

equity firm - controlled by a member of the family that founded

American publishing company Rand McNally - has an "economic

interest" in the logistics company involved in a controversial

new aid distribution operation in Gaza.



McNally Capital, founded in 2008 by Ward McNally, helped

"support the establishment" of Safe Reach Solutions, a McNally

Capital spokesperson told Reuters. SRS is a for-profit company

established in Wyoming in November, state incorporation records

show.

It is in the spotlight for its involvement with the U.S.- and

Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which last week

started distributing aid in the war-torn Palestinian enclave.

The foundation paused work on Wednesday after a series of deadly

shootings close to its operations and has suffered from the

departure of senior personnel.



"McNally Capital has provided administrative advice to SRS

and worked in collaboration with multiple parties to enable SRS

to carry out its mission," the spokesperson said. "While McNally

Capital has an economic interest in SRS, the firm does not

actively manage SRS or have a day-to-day operating role."



SRS is run by a former CIA official named Phil Reilly, but

its ownership has not previously been disclosed. Reuters has not

been able to establish who funds the newly created foundation.



The spokesperson did not provide details of the scale of the

investment in SRS by McNally Capital, which says it has $380

million under management.



McNally Capital founder Ward McNally is the great great

great grandson of the co-founder of Rand McNally. The McNally

family sold the publishing company in 1997.



A spokesperson for SRS confirmed it worked with the

foundation, also known as GHF, but did not answer specific

questions about ownership.



GHF, which resumed aid distribution on Thursday, did not

respond to a request for comment



While Israel and the United States have both said they don't

finance the operation, they have pushed the United Nations and

international aid groups to work with it, arguing that aid

distributed by a long-established U.N. aid network was diverted

to Hamas. Hamas has denied that.



Israel blocked almost all aid into Gaza for 11 weeks until

May 19, and has since only allowed limited deliveries in, mostly

managed by the new GHF operation.

This week GHF pressed Israel to boost civilian safety beyond the

perimeter of its distribution sites after Gazan health officials

said at least 27 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded by

Israeli fire near one of the food distribution sites on Tuesday,

the third consecutive day of chaos and bloodshed to blight the

aid operation.



The Israeli military said its forces on Tuesday had opened

fire on a group of people they viewed as a threat after they

left a designated access route near the distribution center in

Rafah. It said it was investigating what had happened.



The U.N and most other aid groups have refused to work with

GHF because they say it is not neutral and that the distribution

model militarizes aid and forces displacement.



The SRS spokesperson said in a statement that under Reilly's

leadership, "SRS brings together a multidisciplinary team of

experts in security, supply chain management, and humanitarian

affairs."



McNally Capital has investments in defense contracting

companies. Among the firms it acquired was Orbis Operations, a

firm that specializes in hiring former CIA officers. Orbis did

not return calls for comment. Reilly used to work for Orbis.