The IDF is reportedly working on alternatives to the 'partition plan' for humanitarian aid distribution in northern Gaza, Ynet reported on Sunday.
This comes amid concerns about the vicious cycle, whereby Hamas seizes humanitarian aid entering the Strip and sells it at a higher price, which both finances the group and cements its control, Ynet added.
The ideas will reportedly be presented to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
Major-General Eliezer Toledano, head of the IDF’s Strategic Division, alluded to the alternative plans in an update on Sunday during a security briefing to the cabinet, Ynet reported.
National Missions Minister Orit Strock previously questioned Toledano on why Israel had not put an end to Hamas's aid hijacking.
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi expressed support for alternative plans, according to Ynet, who cited him as saying, "It's time to do what we have been advocating for for a long time: strangle Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip."
Ynet reported that one possible plan is for the IDF to distribute aid itself. However, IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi allegedly opposes this.
IDF already a key participant
Aid distribution is currently under the jurisdiction of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which runs a joint task force with other aid organizations.
Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza had a history of stealing humanitarian aid meant for civilians long before the war following the terror organization's October 7 attacks.
In July, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, spoke of the challenges of receiving and distributing aid through the Kerem Shalom crossing and said some aid is getting through but very little.
According to Dujarric, aid is being dropped off from the Israeli side and left in an area where the UN and some private sector entities are also picking it up.
Dujarric also said the UN trucks that are picking up aid are doing it often at a high cost because they are being either looted or attacked by criminal elements.
In a recent incident, the Tzabar Battalion of the IDF's Givati Brigade thwarted an attempt by terrorists in the Gaza Strip to loot an aid truck carrying humanitarian relief for Gaza's civilian population on Friday.
After securing the humanitarian corridor in Rafah, the IDF identified Hamas terrorists stealing the contents of a humanitarian aid truck. Ground forces subsequently directed drones to strike the vehicles carrying the looters.
Joanie Margulies contributed to this report.