Katz says Israel will renew aid to Gaza via civilian firms to prevent Hamas theft

Defense Minister Israel Katz says Israel intends to resume humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, but only via “civilian companies,” so the food and equipment does not reach the Hamas terror group, which rules the territory.

Israel’s policy in Gaza, Katz says in a statemen, entails “first and foremost, making every effort to bring about the release of all the hostages within the Witkoff framework, and building a bridge toward defeat of Hamas in the future.”

He says Israel’s policy also includes “stopping humanitarian aid, which undermines Hamas’s control over the population, and creating an infrastructure for the distribution [of aid] through civilian companies in the future.”

Katz says the IDF continues to strike Hamas operatives and its infrastructure, to evacuate Palestinian civilians from combat zones, to carry out massive strikes ahead of ground operations, and to destroy buildings that pose threats to Israeli troops.

“So far, hundreds of thousands of residents have been evacuated and tens of percent of the territory has been added to the security zones,” he says, referring to Israel’s expanding buffer zone on the Gaza border, which now includes some 30% of the Strip.

“The pressure on Hamas to carry out the deal is heavy and the tension between it and the local population is increasing,” he says, adding that Egypt has for the first time set “the disarming of Hamas and the demilitarization of Gaza” as a condition “for a comprehensive deal and for ending the war.”