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PALESTINE

Thu 08 May 2025 9:14 pm - Jerusalem Time

Washington promotes a "dubious" aid initiative for Gaza.


Hebrew and American media reported on Thursday that the United States is pushing for UN Security Council support for a new initiative that would allow aid to be delivered to the Gaza Strip "without direct Israeli military intervention," according to Washington's claim.


While the private Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth described the initiative as "American," the Washington Post reported it as "Israeli."


However, according to the announced details of the initiative, it achieves the same stated goal of an initiative recently promoted by Tel Aviv, namely "emptying northern Gaza of Palestinian civilians," which raises doubts about it.


Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, presented the initiative to the Security Council, claiming that it "aims to provide food and medical aid to civilians in Gaza, without direct intervention from the Israeli military."


The newspaper added that the initiative's first phase aims to "establish four safe aid distribution centers inside Gaza, each serving approximately 300,000 people, covering a population of 1.2 million, with a subsequent goal of reaching more than 2 million people."


According to Yedioth Ahronoth, the plan "will be implemented without a direct Israeli military presence, but coordination will be made with the army to maintain what it called the humanitarian corridors" through which aid seekers will arrive.


** "Gaza Humanitarian Foundation"


For its part, the Washington Post reported that "the initiative is designed to rely on the United Nations, particularly the World Food Programme, and humanitarian NGOs already operating in Gaza to distribute food parcels at the centers to Palestinians, whose identities will be vetted by Israel" to ensure they are not members of Palestinian factions.


The newspaper added that the aid distribution will be carried out under the umbrella of an organization called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a non-profit organization recently registered in Switzerland and established by undisclosed governments and entities, including the payment of wages to the American security contractors participating in the initiative.


In a statement distributed Wednesday, the Geneva-based Gaza Humanitarian Foundation did not provide any information about its origins, supporters, or relationship with Israel, but said it is "independent" and "aims only to ensure that aid is delivered directly, and only, to those in need" in the Gaza Strip.


She added that Israeli military personnel "will not be present near aid distribution sites."


The organization explained: "Aid distribution is based solely on need, without eligibility requirements or consideration of identity, origin, or affiliation, with priority given to the dignity and safety of the community," it claimed.


** Evacuation of northern Gaza


But nongovernmental aid organizations and people familiar with the Israeli plan said, according to the Washington Post, that the scope and terms described are far from what they were told about the plan's initial stages, which include vetting the identities of Israeli beneficiaries and providing aid to fewer than 200,000 people.


The American newspaper added that aid distribution will be limited to "southern Gaza."


This means that the initiative will achieve the same goal as its counterpart, recently proposed by Israel and rejected by the Palestinian side and international organizations: "accelerating the evacuation of Palestinian civilians from the northern Gaza Strip," according to what Israeli Army Radio revealed last Tuesday.


The Israeli plan, rejected by Palestinians and internationally, stipulates that aid be distributed in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, specifically in the area between the Morag and Philadelphi axes, which are completely under Israeli military control.


The plan also stipulates that "the entry of Gaza residents into this area will be conditional upon thorough inspections to ensure the absence of Hamas elements."


Army Radio reported that "three aid distribution centers will be established inside Rafah, making it the main hub for receiving and distributing humanitarian aid in the Strip."


She noted that "aid will not be distributed in any other area of the Gaza Strip, which is expected to accelerate the movement of civilians from northern Gaza to the south."


For several weeks, the Israeli army has been encircling the area between the Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border and the Morag Corridor, which separates Rafah from Khan Yunis, claiming to be "pursuing dozens of Palestinian militants there."


The military plan, devised by Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir and approved by the Israeli Security Cabinet last Sunday, calls for the displacement of Palestinians from across Gaza, particularly the northern part of the Strip, to this area.


Israel seeks to reoccupy the Gaza Strip, particularly in the north, following its withdrawal from it in 2005 under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.


In this regard, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said last Monday that Tel Aviv will not withdraw from Gaza after completing its occupation, even if it is in exchange for the release of prisoners held by Palestinian factions.


It's worth noting that on March 2, Israel halted the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, despite hundreds of trucks carrying international aid waiting to enter the Strip. This has exacerbated the famine in the Strip.


UN agencies have rejected Israel's proposed plan for the entry of aid, while the Palestinian government announced on Monday its rejection of the same plan, considering it an attempt to circumvent UN agencies.


The Palestinian government affirmed its rejection of "any steps aimed at undermining the role of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) or related national institutions," while calling for "more international pressure to open the crossings and allow the entry of aid."


In the same context, Hamas expressed its strong rejection on Monday of any Israeli plan that would turn humanitarian aid into a tool for political blackmail, considering such a plan "an extension of the policy of starvation and dispersion that gives the occupation an additional opportunity to commit crimes of genocide."


Meanwhile, the international humanitarian team in the occupied Palestinian territory warned on Sunday evening that the Israeli plan "presented to us means that large parts of Gaza, including the least mobile and most vulnerable people, will remain without supplies."


He stressed that the plan "contradicts international humanitarian principles, is dangerous, and pushes civilians into military zones to obtain rations, threatening lives and further entrenching forced displacement."


The Humanitarian Team is a strategic body led by the United Nations, comprising representatives of UN agencies and Palestinian and international NGOs, and operates under the supervision of the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory.


UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher have previously announced that the organization will not participate in any plan that does not adhere to the universal humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, independence, and neutrality.


Israel has been blockading Gaza for 18 years, leaving approximately 1.5 million Palestinians out of a population of approximately 2.4 million homeless after their homes were destroyed in the war of extermination. Gaza is suffering from famine due to Tel Aviv's closure of the crossings to humanitarian aid.


With American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving more than 172,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing.


On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said that his country had held numerous discussions regarding Gaza, and that the details of the situation would be revealed "likely within the next 24 hours."


The government media office in Gaza, Hamas, human rights organizations, and UN officials have repeatedly warned of the dangers of famine and "severe" malnutrition affecting Palestinians in Gaza, particularly children and the elderly, due to Israel's ban on the entry of relief, food, and medical aid into the Strip.

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Washington promotes a "dubious" aid initiative for Gaza.

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