Israel has halted aid deliveries into Gaza, Channel 12 news reported Wednesday, citing an unnamed Israeli official, amid concerns that Hamas is seizing the deliveries and threats by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to quit the government.
The report came shortly after the Prime Minister’s Office announced that the military had been ordered to present a plan within the next two days on how to keep Hamas from stealing humanitarian assistance.
The Israeli official quoted by Channel 12 said the statement from the PMO came after Smotrich threatened that he could no longer remain in the government if immediate action wasn’t taken to prevent aid from reaching Hamas.
The far-right politician, who has consistently demanded a tough stance on Gaza, did not make the reported threat publicly, though he has in the past said he would bolt the government if the war in Gaza ended before the complete destruction of Hamas.
The official said the pause on aid deliveries will remain in place until the IDF presents its plan.
Earlier, Netanyahu, in a joint statement with Defense Minister Israel Katz, said that Hamas was taking control of humanitarian aid entering the northern Gaza Strip and stealing it from Gazan civilians.
“Following information received today indicating that Hamas is once again taking control of humanitarian aid entering northern Gaza and stealing it from civilians, the prime minister and the defense minister have instructed the IDF to present within 48 hours an operational plan to prevent Hamas from taking over the aid,” the PMO said in a statement.
The announcement came an hour after former prime minister Naftali Bennett, who looks to be a leading challenger to Netanyahu in the next election, posted on X a video of armed men he said were Hamas operatives riding on trucks full of humanitarian aid that they had taken control of. He wrote that soldiers on the ground told him their orders are to let trucks into Gaza with no attempt to control what happens to them.
“This is how we continue to supply Hamas with money and power,” Bennett wrote in criticism of the government’s handling of the situation.
Israel has accused Hamas of hoarding aid and selling it at exorbitant rates amid the war sparked on October 7, 2023, when the terror group stormed southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
The UN and humanitarian aid groups have repeatedly warned that there is not enough food in Gaza and famine is imminent.
Israel has in the past halted aid, accusing Hamas of abusing supplies. Last month, a new organization, the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, opened four distribution centers aimed at delivering aid directly to Gazans and preventing Hamas from diverting the goods.
Footage published by Palestinian media on Thursday showed humanitarian aid being distributed from trucks in Gaza City, in the northern part of the Strip. According to the reports, the trucks had reached their destination and their cargo was being distributed by local clans and “security committees,” both of which operate under the authority of Hamas.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation does not operate an aid distribution center in northern Gaza, as it does in the south and center.
Humanitarian organizations operating under the UN framework, such as the World Food Program, are currently responsible for distributing humanitarian aid in northern Gaza.
In south and central Gaza, GHF operations have been plagued by deadly shooting incidents as hundreds of thousands of Gazans try to reach the centers. The IDF does not run the centers, though it does provide security along access routes. Though admitting that in some cases troops opened fire when Palestinians approached their positions, Israel also accuses Hamas of deliberately provoking violence at the centers.
On Thursday, Hamas-controlled health authorities said that three people were killed and dozens were wounded as crowds awaited UN aid trucks along a main route in central Gaza.
The UN and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the foundation over concerns that it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.
The GHF began operating in Gaza after a nearly three-month blockade Israel placed on the Strip following the collapse of the last ceasefire-hostage deal with Hamas in early March.