Some international aid organizations have sent a clear message to Israel: they will not cooperate with the new humanitarian aid plan unless several changes are made. This was reported to The Jerusalem Post by two Western diplomats familiar with the details of the discussions.
This week, Israel’s Security Cabinet approved a new plan for distributing humanitarian aid when it is determined that the aid stockpiled in the Gaza Strip over the past few months has run out. Under the new plan, aid will be distributed directly to families at centers located in the southern part of the Gaza Strip in areas fully controlled by the IDF. This marks a shift from the previous method in which aid was delivered by trucks entering various areas of Gaza, a system that allowed Hamas to loot the supplies.
The same organizations that previously delivered aid to Gaza are expected to supply the incoming food. However, two Western diplomats told the Post that some of these organizations would not cooperate with the initiative if Israel implemented a list that restricted certain individuals from receiving aid. The new system aims to deliver the aid directly to families.
International aid organizations push back against Israeli model
A Western diplomat familiar with the discussions told the Post that the aid organizations were not necessarily against the distribution system Israel had proposed.
"It’s not necessarily that the organizations oppose a new distribution model, as Israel proposes, but they are not willing to accept a system in which the IDF and the Israeli security apparatus decide who receives aid and who doesn’t."
The Israeli concept behind the aid distribution list is that "It will establish an area in southern Gaza with aid centers and only allow those who are not Hamas members or identified with Hamas to enter."
But the organizations say that anyone not in this area—either because they didn’t pass the IDF’s screening at checkpoints to reach the southern zone or chose to remain in northern/central Gaza—will not receive aid. "This is unacceptable", the organizations say.
Even one of the world’s largest humanitarian organizations, World Central Kitchen, which previously operated in Gaza, has made it clear that it will refuse to cooperate with the plan, according to another Western diplomat.
The Post reported on Wednesday that Israel and the US held meetings with UN representatives in an attempt to persuade them to join the framework. Officials from COGAT (Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories) have recently met with UN representatives. On Wednesday, Trump envoy Steve Witkoff briefed the UN Security Council on the issue.
According to a source familiar with the matter, the US even threatened to cut its UN funding if the organization refused to cooperate with the new plan.
"This is not a matter of funding," a senior UN official told the Post. "We will not participate in a humanitarian aid distribution system that violates our core principles."