The United States, Israel and representatives of a new international foundation are close to an agreement on how to resume the delivery of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza without it being controlled by Hamas, Axios reported on Friday, citing two Israeli officials and one US source.
The report cited Israeli officials saying that this new system of aid delivery will weaken the terrorist organization because the aid delivery will “deny it the revenue and decrease the population’s dependence on the group.”
Operations into this new aid delivery initiative would be led by an internationally governed foundation, led by humanitarians. Some compounds would be built inside Gaza and civilians would be able to go there once per week for an aid package sufficient for that week per one family, Axios cited Israeli officials as saying.
This report comes nearly a week after US President Donald Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow the delivery of food and medicine into the Palestinian enclave, and the Israeli leader has briefed him about discussions on the new aid delivery mechanism last week. Efforts into developing this new system is being led by Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer. Axios quoted a State Department official saying that this new mechanism was “something to celebrate,” saying that it was a result of a compromise between Israel and the foundation – all with the Trump administration’s endorsement.
The department official added that “Trump and Secretary Rubio expect all UN and international aid agencies to work within the mechanism’s framework to ensure Hamas lacks access to these critical resources,” Axios quoted the official as saying.
Additional details into the new aid delivery mechanism
Logistical delivery and security into this delivery mechanism would be provided by a private US company, Axios reported.
The Israeli security cabinet agreed on expanding operations in the Palestinian enclave, but Israeli officials in the source said that they want the delivery mechanism to be operational before the IDF begins expansion. The IDF, however, will not be involved in aid delivery, the report said.
Israeli officials have previously said that much of the aid being delivered into the Gaza Strip is either stolen or controlled by the Hamas terrorist organization. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had also blamed the terrorist organization for aid lootings in Gaza.
Israel previously halted the delivery of these goods into Gaza in March after the hostage release deal had collapsed.
The Axios report came two days after The Jerusalem Post learned that the Israel will restore aid into Gaza within weeks, whether a deal was reached or not.
IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir has said that he opposes the Israeli military being directly involved in the food distribution.
The day before, the US said at a World Court hearing at The Hague that Israel cannot be forced to allow UNRWA to operate in Gaza, and said that Israel had the right to determine which organizations could provide basic needs to the Gazan population.
Yonah Jeremy Bob and Reuters contributed to this report.
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