'There's good chance I can get hostages out'

As Israel weighs subcontracting Gaza aid delivery, a philanthropist makes his pitch

Moti Kahana, who led extractions of Jews and others in peril from Syria, Ukraine and beyond, says his firm can ensure secure distribution of assistance, prevent Hamas taking control of it

Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief

Armed and masked Palestinians sit on trucks leading humanitarian aid into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom Crossing with Israel, in the Strip's south, April 3, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)
Armed and masked Palestinians sit on trucks leading humanitarian aid into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom Crossing with Israel, in the Strip's south, April 3, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

Israel is looking at hiring private subcontractors to secure and deliver humanitarian aid in Gaza so that it cannot be diverted by Hamas and other armed groups, two Israeli officials confirmed to The Times of Israel on Monday.

While Israel has managed to significantly weaken Hamas since the start of the war, the terror group has been able to maintain a cash flow by taking control of the aid entering Gaza and profiting from its distribution, the Israeli officials said.

Some in the international community have pushed for the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority to be given responsibility for aid distribution as part of a broader effort to restore PA governance in Gaza, but the idea has been dismissed by the Israeli government, which now rejects the two-state solution model that the PA was established to advance. Israel briefly tried to empower local clan leaders in Gaza to manage aid distribution, but the effort fell apart almost immediately, as those community heads quickly found themselves under threat.

This has led Israel to consider hiring foreign subcontractors to distribute aid, with the security cabinet discussing the idea during a meeting on Sunday night, the officials said.

American-Israeli businessman and philanthropist Moti Kahana is hoping that his Global Delivery Company will be picked for the job, and GDC has already put together a plan that he says can be implemented in Gaza within 30 days.

Kahana has drawn attention for leading audacious missions to extract thousands of Jews and other people in peril from Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan and Ukraine, and he believes his successes can be replicated in Gaza.

Moti Kahana at the Siret border crossing between Romania and Ukraine. (JTA)

Speaking to The Times of Israel on Monday, Kahana said he envisioned GDC being responsible for distributing aid from border crossings to specific towns in Gaza. He has been in touch with a British firm comprising former combat soldiers from Western militaries who would be charged with securing the convoys together with the communities receiving the assistance. He declined to reveal the identity of the security contractor before details have been finalized.

Kahana described GDC’s plan to build a “gated community” around the first town earmarked for receipt of humanitarian aid. He stressed that the community would not be a “ghetto” and that residents would be able to come and go as they please. However, it would be protected by the GDC-subcontracted security firm and provide a safe location where locals would be able to receive aid without having to pay protection fees to Hamas or criminal gangs.

The formula’s success will spark the interest of surrounding communities, allowing the “gated community” concept to gradually be replicated across the Strip, he said.

Kahana predicted that the pilot program would require 100 staffers, most of whom would be connected to the private security subcontractor.

However, he recognized that GDC is more likely to succeed if it hires Palestinian locals. He said roughly 2,500 Palestinians have already been vetted by the Israel Defense Forces and the PA for such work and that he would like to hire them.

Palestinians ride a donkey cart along a street with no street lights in the central Gaza Strip town of al-Zawaida on June 25, 2024. (Bashar Taleb / AFP)

“The GDC plan for Gaza is intended to respond to the reality that theft or diversion of assistance by Hamas, other terrorist groups or armed criminals is a major impediment to the delivery of humanitarian assistance,” read a press release from Kahana’s firm issued on Monday evening.

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby confirmed hours earlier that armed gangs in Gaza have prevented aid from entering the Strip through the Kerem Shalom Crossing.

“GDC will work with a security company that has extensive experience in operating overseas with the highest standards of integrity, respect for human rights and cultural sensitivity,” the release said. “Personnel working for our security sub-contractor are trained and equipped for non-lethal and lethal methods of crowd control. They are trained to use deadly force only as a last resort if their lives are in danger.”

While far-right ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich have proposed tasking the IDF with distributing aid, the security establishment has pushed back on the idea, and the GDC statement argued that the Israeli army lacks the “training, equipment and discipline” for the matter.

Kahana said the project would cost $200 million for six months and quipped that the sum is far less than the $320 million that the US spent on a temporary aid pier, which it was forced to disassemble after less than two months due to weather-related damage.

The CEO of the New Jersey-based GDC said he has been working on this plan to deliver Gaza aid since the war broke out over a year ago and has been in regular contact with senior officials from the IDF and Defense Ministry, who have been supportive. Nonetheless, a final approval from the government to launch the plan has remained elusive. Kahana has also submitted the plan to the White House and State Department but has not yet secured a meeting with officials in the Biden administration.

Boys sit on a cart with humanitarian aid packages in central Gaza City on August 27, 2024. (Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP)

This has not deterred him from regularly advocating for GDC’s recruitment on his social media pages, which also feature significant criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

“If Netanyahu decides not to hire the best in the industry, which his own IDF has already worked with, because of my political views, then so be it… I cannot fake who I am… and I’m not going to change my political opinions for money,” he said.

Kahana also claimed that launching the “gated community” pilot could lead to an opening in Israel’s long-deadlocked efforts to free the hostages.

“What I told then-war cabinet minister Benny Gantz was that when you get our team and supply in, you get information out,” he said, pointing to his success in extracting civilians from Syria after his associates were able to enter the war zone there.

“There’s a good chance, based on what I successfully did in the past, that maybe I’ll be able to get one hostage out. My goal is to get one, and if I get one out, maybe I can do more,” he said.

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