Senior Israeli ministers claim the new humanitarian aid plan will begin operating in the Gaza Strip as early as Monday, Israel Hayom has learned.
Israeli officials confirmed that the planned aid initiative would not launch today, on schedule, and would instead be postponed. Until the new plan is implemented, aid deliveries will continue as they have in recent weeks, with trucks entering the Gaza Strip. Officials voiced concern that the supplies might end up in the hands of the terrorist organization Hamas. According to Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), a total of 388 aid trucks entered Gaza last week.
An investigative report by The New York Times, published overnight Saturday to Sunday, exposed the humanitarian aid project now underway, which bypasses the UN framework. The project is being operated by the "Mikveh Israel Forum" - a group made up of IDF reservists, businesspeople and establishment figures, led by Yotam HaCohen, Liran Tancman, and Michael Eisenberg.
Inside a southern Gaza facility, a US-based company has constructed massive storage units. The site will include registration, identification checks, and food parcel collection. Officials fear Hamas may seize the supplies from family representatives at checkpoints it is expected to set up at the entrance to Al-Mawasi, the coastal zone where many of the displaced persons' tent camps have been established.
As Israel Hayom reported Sunday morning, Israeli assessments suggest that the looters seen in video footage from the weekend were civilians, not members of Hamas.
Despite criticism over these operations, which were approved by the Israeli government, aid convoys are expected to continue this week. Officials say the American company responsible for organizing the effort has not yet completed its preparations. "This is a temporary delay, likely just a few days for logistical arrangements," said one official.
Meanwhile, Israeli defense officials reject claims that the fighting in Gaza has stalled. Rather, they say operations are progressing deliberately and cautiously to protect Israeli forces and because of the assumption that Hamas has planted explosives and prepared for IDF troop movements.
All forces scheduled to enter Gaza have already done so. The main focus is now shifting to the Khan Younis area, where the goal is to replicate the thorough operations carried out in recent weeks in Rafah.
