U.S. says Israel won’t be involved in Gaza aid distribution

A U.S.-backed mechanism for distributing aid into Gaza should take effect soon, Washington’s ambassador to Israel said on Friday ahead of President Donald Trump’s visit to the Middle East, but he gave few details.

Gaza’s residents are facing a growing humanitarian crisis with Israel enforcing a months-long blockade on aid supplies to the small Palestinian enclave in the third year of its war against militant group Hamas.

Ambassador Mike Huckabee said several partners had already committed to taking part in the aid arrangement but declined to name them, saying details would be released in the coming days.

“There has been a good initial response,” the former Republican governor told reporters at the embassy in Jerusalem.

“There are non-profit organizations that will be a part of the leadership,” he said, adding that other organizations and governments would also need to be involved, though not Israel.

A new U.S.-backed group called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has put forward an aid distribution plan along the lines of Israel’s demands, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. The group is made up of American security contractors, former government officials, ex-military officers and humanitarian officials.

It wasn’t immediately clear if this was the plan that Huckabee was referring to. But aid workers have said the creation of the group does little to assuage their concerns.

Hamas senior official Basem Naim said the plan was close to “the Israeli vision of militarizing aid” and said it would fail, at the same time warning local parties against “becoming tools in the Zionist occupation’s schemes.”

Trump, who seeks a landmark deal that would see Israel and Saudi Arabia establish diplomatic relations, will visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates next week.

Anticipation has been building about a new aid plan for Gaza, which has been devastated by 19 months of an Israeli military campaign against Hamas that has destroyed much of the infrastructure and displaced most of its 2.3 million population several times.

“It will not be perfect, especially in the early days,” Huckabee said. “It is a logistical challenge to make this work.”

Imminent famine confronting population: UN

European leaders and aid groups have criticized a plan by Israel  for private companies to take over humanitarian distributions and expand its military campaign in the enclave.

Israel has accused agencies including the United Nations of allowing aid to fall into the hands of Hamas, which it has said is seizing supplies intended for civilians and given them to its own forces or selling them to raise funds — something Hamas has denied.

Israel has prevented aid from entering Gaza since breaking a ceasefire with Hamas in March, which has prompted UN warnings of imminent famine confronting its population.

Islam Hajjaj says her six-year-old daughter Najwa is suffering from severe malnutrition as a result of the blockade. Najwa’s one of roughly tens of thousands of children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, who are showing signs of malnutrition.

Hajjaj said her daughter weighed roughly 22 pounds before the war. Now, she weighs 15 pounds, significantly underweight for her age.

“She became a human skeleton,” Hajjaj told CBC News on Friday.

“The war has made her situation worse and worse. She goes to sleep and wakes up wishing for milk.”

Criticism of aid plans

Trump had teased a major announcement ahead of the trip. It was unclear if that was what Huckabee announced on Friday.

“The Israelis are going to be involved in providing necessary military security because it is a war zone, but they will not be involved in the distribution of the food or even bringing the food into Gaza,” Huckabee told a news conference.

Asked whether the supply of aid hinged on a ceasefire being  restored, Huckabee said: “The humanitarian aid will not depend on anything other than our ability to get the food into Gaza.”

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Friday criticized emerging plans to take over distribution of aid in Gaza floated by both Israel and the United States, saying this would increase suffering for children and families.

A proposal is circulating among the aid community for a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation that would distribute food from four “secure distribution sites,” resembling plans announced by Israel earlier this week, but drew criticism that it would effectively worsen displacement among the Gaza population.

Huckabee said there would be an “initial number” of distribution centres that could feed “perhaps over a million people” before being scaled up to ultimately reach two million.

“Private security” would be responsible for the safety of workers getting into the distribution centres and in the distribution of the food itself, Huckabee said, declining to comment on rules of engagement for security personnel.

“Everything would be done in accordance with international law,” he said.

Mediation efforts by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt have not been successful in implementing a second phase of the ceasefire. Israel demands the total disarmament of Hamas, which the Islamist group rejects.

Hamas has said it is willing to free all remaining hostages seized by its gunmen in attacks on communities in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and agree to a permanent ceasefire if Israel pulls out completely from Gaza.

The Hamas-led attacks on Oct.7, 2023 killed 1,200 people and 251 were taken hostage back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s campaign has killed more than 52,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to health authorities.