Israel considering arming Gazan civilians to secure aid transfers — report
Secure distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza continues to be a problem, as public order crumbles and international pressure on Israel mounts
Israeli officials have discussed arming some civilians in Gaza to provide security protection for aid convoys into the besieged enclave, as part of wider planning for humanitarian supplies after fighting ends, the Israel Hayom daily reported on Friday.
With civil order increasingly strained in Gaza and Hamas-backed municipal police refusing to provide security to convoys because of the risk of being targeted by Israeli forces, the issue of secure distribution of supplies has become a major problem.
The potential civilians to be armed would not be linked to terrorist groups including Hamas but it remained unclear who they might be, the newspaper said. It said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had postponed a decision on the issue.
The Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment on the report, which came a week after dozens of Palestinians were killed in an incident in which crowds stampeded and surrounded a convoy of aid trucks entering northern Gaza and troops opened fire on several of them who approached the soldiers.
The incident underlined the chaotic conditions in which aid has been delivered into Gaza, where the United Nations has warned of the growing threat of famine after more than five months of war.
“We were not carrying weapons or anything, we are civilians. We wanted to get food because we are starving here in Gaza,” said Mustafa Lolo, who said he was shot in the legs trying to get aid.
On Friday, the IDF released the results of a review of the circumstances behind the February 29 truck convoy incident and repeated that troops had only fired at individuals they felt posed a threat.
“The command review found that IDF troops did not fire at the humanitarian convoy, but did fire at a number of suspects who approached the nearby forces and posed a threat to them,” it said in a statement.
Hamas rejected the report which it said was an attempt to exonerate soldiers from the “horrific crime.”
Palestinian health authorities claimed more than 100 people were killed in the incident and that most were shot by IDF troops. Israel, however, said most of the dead and wounded were trampled or run over as people scrambled for supplies.
Breakdown of civil order
UN agencies had no connection with the convoy, which was operated by private contractors and overseen by the IDF. However, they have said aid deliveries have become increasingly difficult amid a general breakdown in civil order.
“When fighting continues, when people are desperate, when the social fabric is torn down and lawlessness is on the rise, it gets harder and harder for us on the other side — once it’s been checked and verified — to receive and distribute safely,” UN Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, Sigrid Kaag, told reporters this week.
In a report on Wednesday, the United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA pointed to “the diminished presence of local police, following a spate of attacks by Israeli forces that led to police casualties.”
Israel says its goal in the war is the destruction of Hamas, following the terrorist group’s attack on Israel on October 7 in which 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were murdered and 253 were abducted.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza claims that almost 31,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel in the war, but the number cannot be independently verified as it is believed to include both Hamas terrorists and civilians, some of whom were killed as a consequence of the terror group’s own rocket misfires.
The IDF says it has killed over 13,000 terrorists in Gaza, in addition to some 1,000 who were killed inside Israel on and immediately following October 7.
As part of plans for running Gaza after the war, Netanyahu has considered empowering local representatives not affiliated with Hamas or other terrorist groups, but it is unclear who such people may be.
Gaza has a number of large traditional family clans, affiliated with political factions including Hamas and Fatah, the rival group that dominates the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.
Some of the larger clans in Gaza City and elsewhere are believed to be well-armed but they have a long history of clashing over rival interests and there has been no indication that they would consider working with Israel.
