UN humanitarian agency rejects new Israeli plan for Gaza aid deliveries
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says proposal ‘contravenes fundamental humanitarian principles,’ appears aimed at using vital supplies as ‘pressure tactic’
The UN agency responsible for coordinating the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza issued a formal statement Sunday rejecting an Israeli plan to overhaul the way aid enters the Strip, saying it “contravenes fundamental humanitarian principles.”
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs indicated that, as a result, it would not cooperate with Israel on implementing the proposed program.
The Israeli plan, first reported by The Times of Israel on Friday, would entail the IDF transitioning away from wholesale distribution and warehousing of aid and instead have international organizations and private security contractors hand out boxes of food to individual Gazan families.
According to Israeli and Arab officials familiar with the matter, the IDF would not be directly involved in the distribution of aid, but troops would be tasked with providing an outer layer of security for the private contractors and international organizations handing out the assistance. Israel believes this method will make it harder for Hamas to divert aid to its fighters, the officials said.
Israel stopped allowing aid into Gaza on March 2 after the first phase of a ceasefire and hostage release deal ended. Jerusalem argued that Hamas diverted much of the aid that entered during the six-week truce, but that the 650 trucks per day were enough to feed the population for an extended period.
OCHA — whose spokesperson already dismissed the Israeli plan in comments to The Associated Press on Saturday — issued an official statement that expands on its opposition to the proposal.
“Israeli officials have sought to shut down the existing aid distribution system run by the United Nations and its humanitarian partners and have us agree to deliver supplies through Israeli hubs under conditions set by the Israeli military, once the government agrees to re-open crossings,” it said.
“The design of the plan presented to us will mean large parts of Gaza, including the less mobile and most vulnerable people, will continue to go without supplies,” it continued. “It contravenes fundamental humanitarian principles and appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy. It is dangerous, driving civilians into militarized zones to collect rations, threatening lives, including those of humanitarian workers, while further entrenching forced displacement.
“The UN Secretary-General and the Emergency Relief Coordinator have made clear that we will not participate in any scheme that does not adhere to the global humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, independence and neutrality. In the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the heads of all UN entities and non-governmental organizations under the Humanitarian Country Team have unanimously affirmed this position.”
Aid groups say Israel shouldn’t have any direct role in distributing aid once it arrives in Gaza, and most are saying they will refuse to be part of any such system.
A State Department official criticized the stance taken by the UN and aid groups in remarks to the Axios outlet.
He said the proposed scheme was “a creative, outside-the-box thinking solution to a difficult problem. This is something people should celebrate and support, especially given the needs of Gazans. ”
“It is a really bad optic for these groups to be on the same side as terrorist Hamas on this,” the official said.
A source involved in setting up the new system proposed by Israel told Axios that its operations would not be controlled by the Israel Defense Forces.
“We believe that something must be done urgently,” the source said, noting the aim is to find a solution that “will adhere to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence.”
Israel has not detailed any of its proposals publicly or put them in writing. But aid groups have been documenting their conversations with Israeli officials, and The Associated Press obtained more than 40 pages of notes summarizing Israel’s proposals and aid groups’ concerns about them.
There is no exact timeline for when the new system will become operational, but the IDF believes that it only has several weeks before a major humanitarian crisis, an Israeli official told the Times of Israel last week.
On Sunday evening, Israel’s top-tier security cabinet approved the renewed aid deliveries plan.
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir was the only member who voted against the plan, which is to be implemented when the situation in Gaza necessitates it.
The cabinet was unanimous in also approving a plan to expand the military offensive in the Gaza Strip, an Israeli official confirmed to The Times of Israel.
That plan is expected to only be implemented after US President Donald Trump’s visit to the region next week, and until then, efforts will be made to reach an agreement with Hamas on a ceasefire and hostage deal, Hebrew media reported.
The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack, when about 5,600 terrorists stormed across the border into southern Israel, killed some 1,200 people, and took 251 hostages into Gaza, where dozens remain captive.
Emanuel Fabian, and Jacob Magid contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.