Israel unlikely to uphold hostage deal commitment for boost in Gaza aid — US officials

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

Volunteers stand in front of trucks carrying humanitarian aid to Palestinians at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza Strip, in Rafah, Egypt, October 31, 2023. (Ahmed Hatem/AP)
Volunteers stand in front of trucks carrying humanitarian aid to Palestinians at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza Strip, in Rafah, Egypt, October 31, 2023. (Ahmed Hatem/AP)

While Israel has agreed as part of the hostage deal with Hamas to allow in at least 200 trucks of humanitarian aid into Gaza for every day of the multi-day truce, the current aid delivery mechanisms the IDF has in place are unlikely to allow for this much-needed increase in assistance, two officials in US President Joe Biden’s administration tell The Times of Israel.

Accordingly, Washington has been pressuring Israel to open its Kerem Shalom crossing to help facilitate the entry of more aid into the enclave both during the four-day-plus truce and beyond, the administration officials say.

Israel has refused to reopen Kerem Shalom since Hamas’s October 7 onslaught and only allowed aid to enter Gaza through Egypt’s Rafah crossing two weeks into the war, arguing that it would not directly supply the Strip with assistance as long as the hundreds of hostages remain there.

International actors have sought to make do with just Rafah, but only on several days since its opening has the number of trucks eclipsed the initially set goal of 100.

The two Biden administration officials cite several reasons for the underwhelming amount of aid that has been able to enter Gaza through Rafah, pointing first to the convoluted inspection system, which has seen already-inspected trucks in Egypt then enter Israel’s Nitzana crossing, where they are examined by Israeli authorities before being returned to Egypt and ferried through Rafah.

This extra round of inspections was not in place before the war, but Israel has insisted on the addition over the past month.

The US officials also point to problems with Egypt’s El-Arish airport, which is the only one receiving shipments of aid that are then driven into Gaza through Rafah. The airport has only one runway and very limited parking, making it unsuitable for the mass deliveries that are needed for the coastal enclave.

Washington intends to continue raising the demand for reopening the Kerem Shalom crossing, the two administration officials say.

A Hamas security officer checks a truck entering Gaza at the Kerem Shalom cargo crossing with Israel, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, June 21, 2021. (Adel Hana/AP)

Israel’s rejection of the demand has been “really problematic because the level of aid going into Gaza now is totally unsustainable” as the humanitarian situation worsens and more people are reliant on assistance, the senior administration official warns.

The official adds that the refusal to reopen Kerem Shalom is “completely political,” given that there are no security concerns about allowing aid into Gaza through that crossing.

A second administration official argues that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government was most exposed to criticism from its right-wing base when the premier first agreed to allow aid in through Rafah last month, after vowing that it wouldn’t do so. But with Rafah now operating, opening Kerem Shalom comes with far less political risk.

“The [Israelis], rightfully so, have made a point to highlight the aid they’ve been allowing in, recognizing that it gives them more international legitimacy to continue the military operation,” says the second administration official. “But it can’t just be a talking point.”

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