Senior security officials say in private conversations that as long as the humanitarian aid convoys entering Gaza are not secured by armed forces, the looting of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip will not stop, regardless of how it is delivered, Israel Hayom can reveal.
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The proposal calls for arming Gaza residents who do not support Hamas who will also be part of the "day after" solution in the Gaza Strip. The security establishment has warned Israeli leaders that whoever controls the distribution of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip will ultimately control the strip and therefore those elements should be allowed to create the "humanitarian islands."
However, the issue of the identity of who will be armed for this purpose has been unresolved, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stating that they also cannot be Palestinian Authority members either.
As a result, the plan has been in limbo. A final discussion on the issue has not yet taken place since Netanyahu is currently delaying the decision.
Israel Hayom has learned that the security establishment has recently held discussions regarding the supply convoys and the need to separate them from Hamas, which has been diverting them for its own needs.
The issue arose as an urgent need after hundreds of Palestinians attacked humanitarian aid trucks on their way to the northern strip earlier this month, resulting in dozens of Palestinian deaths from overcrowding and trampling. The international community blamed Israel for this, despite the IDF presenting (with a 10-hour delay) a video clearly showing the cause of the Palestinian deaths.
Video: Hamas operative admits to Israeli hostages being held and Hamas terrorists hiding behind civilians in Nasser Hospital / Credit: X/@IDF
From the recent discussions, it emerged that the countries willing to take responsibility for the supply convoys and the humanitarian islands have already demanded several weeks ago that local armed Palestinian guards, unaffiliated with Hamas, perform security duties to protect the convoys and local population, using weapons provided with Israel's approval.
Currently, any armed Palestinian in the Gaza Strip is defined by the IDF as a "terrorist", and treated as such by the forces. The reason is clear: The IDF currently controls the area, and any weapon poses a threat to the troops. If the plan to secure humanitarian convoys by local armed forces is approved, a situation may arise where armed Palestinians roam the strip while IDF forces are still maneuvering there.
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