Israel orders army plan to halt Hamas aid seizures
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz on Thursday ordered the military to produce an action plan within 48 hours to stop Hamas from seizing humanitarian aid entering northern Gaza.
Hamas gunmen escort trucks carrying humanitarian aid on the Salah al-Din Road in the central Gaza area of Deir Al-Balah on March 8, 2024. Photo by Majdi Fathi/TPS.
“Following information received today that Hamas is once again taking control of the humanitarian aid… and stealing it from civilians, the Prime Minister and Defense Minister instructed the IDF to present… an action plan to prevent Hamas from taking control of the aid,” they said in a joint statement.
According to Israel’s Channel 12 News, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has already suspended aid deliveries until its plan is submitted.
The decision came after Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich reportedly threatened to resign unless the flow of aid to Gaza was stopped.
Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also weighed in, posting a video on X/Twitter on Wednesday night showing masked gunmen commandeering aid trucks.
“This video was filmed today,” he wrote. “It shows Hamas gunmen who have once again taken control of food trucks… Fighters in the field explained to me that these are the current orders, to let trucks in without inspection… Shameful.”
Meanwhile, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) called on the United Nations to publicly condemn attacks on aid workers and to help develop a new system for delivering food directly to Palestinian families. In a letter sent Tuesday to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the group appealed for a partnership that would bypass Hamas and ensure aid reaches civilians.
Since beginning operations on May 26, the GHF has distributed 44,094,622 meals, including 2.4 million on Wednesday.
The Press Service of Israel reported in November that Hamas and criminal gangs associated with it hijacked 85% of all the trucks entering the Strip with food, water, medicine and other humanitarian items. TPS-IL learned that Hamas granted distribution lines to these groups to ensure that humanitarian aid exclusively reaches Hamas. In return, these gangs receive money, food and vouchers. Hamas also pays these gangs $10,000 a month to maintain checkpoints.
The Israeli government halted the entry of humanitarian aid in early March. According to the IDF, this move sharply curtailed Hamas’s revenue stream, with some gunmen and operatives not receiving salaries.
Hamas has been firing on Palestinians making their way to distribution centres, and residents of the Strip accuse the terror group of violence to deliberately disrupt the aid.
At least 1,180 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 50 remaining hostages, around 30 are believed to be dead.
