Israel agrees to resume Gaza aid after two month freeze, foundation says
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Charitable organizations distribute meals to Palestinians in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. Photo: Mahmoud Ssa/Anadolu via Getty Images
The Israeli government has agreed to resume humanitarian aid delivery to Palestinians in Gaza, the new Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) said in a statement on Wednesday.
Why it matters: Israel has frozen all supplies of food, water and medicine to Gaza for two months, and the UN has warned food supplies will run out within days. The foundation said Israel had agreed to resume aid imminently though the Israeli government has not confirmed that.
- Resuming aid delivery was the key condition of the GHF — established with backing from the U.S. and Israel — for it launching a new aid delivery mechanism in Gaza, which Israel says will allow aid to be delivered without being controlled by Hamas.
- But the announcement comes as Israel is preparing for a massive operation to flatten and occupy the entire enclave if no ceasefire deal is reached this week.
- Israeli officials did not immediately respond to Axios' requests for comment on the claim they had agreed to immediately unfreeze aid.
What they're saying: "The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) today announced that it will launch operations in the Gaza Strip before the end of the month. This follows discussions with Israeli officials to allow the flow of transitional aid into Gaza under existing mechanisms while construction of GHF's Secure Distribution Sites (SDS) is completed," the foundation said in a statement.
- "There is no time to wait for ideal conditions. We have a responsibility to act and to do it without compromising our values. Today we are one step closer to doing just that," GHF executive director Jake Wood said.
State of play: GHF said in its statement that it is in the final stages of procuring large volumes of food aid to supplement existing pledges from humanitarian organizations operating in Gaza. Collectively, the total commitment for the initial 90-day period will exceed 300 million meals.
- In a letter sent on May 14 by the GHF to the Israeli government and obtained by Axios, the foundation requested that Israel facilitate the flow of enough humanitarian aid using existing modalities to Gaza until GHF's distribution infrastructure is fully operational.
Behind the scenes: The Israeli decision, if confirmed, is the result of negotiations between the GHF and the Israeli government in recent days.
- The GHF had asked, and Israel agreed, to expand the number of secure aid delivery center around the Gaza Strip in order to serve the entire population of Gaza and find solutions for the distribution of aid to civilians who are unable to reach a distribution location.
- The GHF asked in the letter that Israel identify locations for aid distribution centers in Northern Gaza strip within 30 days.
- The foundation stressed in the letter that if displacement of Palestinian civilians "is deemed necessary due to imminent or active military operations, it should be temporary, voluntary, and solely for the protection of the civilian population."
Between the lines: Israel's military plans, to commence as soon as Friday, include the mass displacement of 2 million Palestinians to a "humanitarian area" in the southern Gaza Strip.
- The UN and all other humanitarian groups operating in Gaza condemned Israel for announcing the new mechanism, to be administered by the GHF, "as part of a military strategy."
- They are demanding that aid resume and continue under existing channels.
