IDF declines active role in Gaza aid distribution as Israel continues search for permanent solution

International aid organizations repeatedly halted operations due to fighting

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has directed the Israeli security establishment to prepare for the possibility of assuming control over the distribution of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip, replacing the various international organizations currently operating there, Ynet News reported on Tuesday.

The Israel Defense Forces reportedly declined to take a more active role in the distribution of goods, limiting their involvement to coordination and providing security.

The ultimate aim of Netanyahu’s initiative, however, remains unclear.

Ynet News believes Netanyahu’s decision is aimed at relieving international pressure to improve the humanitarian position, however, Channel 12 News military correspondent Nir Dvori interpreted it as preparation for an Israeli military government running the whole enclave.

The recent announcement that a high-level officer in COGAT, the IDF unit responsible for Judea, Samaria and Gaza, will assume a newly created role as liaison for humanitarian activities in Gaza marks another possible step in this direction.

September 3 humanitarian summary:

🚛204 trucks carrying humanitarian goods were transferred to Gaza. 67 via Erez and 137 via Kerem Shalom.

🛻146 trucks were collected from the Gazan side of Kerem Shalom. 110 by the private sector and 36 by the UN. Approx. 440 trucks worth are… pic.twitter.com/gWBT5FapsE
— COGAT (@cogatonline) September 4, 2024

The United Nations has repeatedly complained of difficulties delivering and distributing aid into Gaza due to “total lawlessness” in the coastal enclave.

In the latest of a series of similar incidents, the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) announced last week that it would suspend its operations in Gaza, claiming that the IDF had struck one of its vehicles in a convoy carrying humanitarian aid.

A UN spokesperson said the convoy had been coordinated with the IDF, and that, even though “the vehicle had a clear UN marking on it, it was hit 10 times by Israeli fire.”

The IDF later reported its investigation revealed that the IDF had targeted gunmen who had taken over some of the vehicles in the convoy.

Last April, Israel experienced a storm of international condemnation after seven aid workers with American, British, Australian and Polish citizenship, were killed by IDF fire after being mistakenly identified as terrorists. The World Central Kitchen organization suspended its operations in Gaza after the incident.

The IDF stated that Col. Elad Goren, who was appointed to the newly-created post in COGAT, will “deal with the integration and implementation of the humanitarian effort in the Gaza Strip and the coordination with the international community, in a way that will allow the implementation of the humanitarian effort while upholding the security interests of the State of Israel.”

While international pressure focuses on Israel for the perceived lack of aid, from Israel’s perspective, the primary issue is that tons of supplies are reaching Hamas as an unintended consequence of the efforts to help civilians in Gaza.

According to Ynet News, Goren will serve as Israel’s point man in Gaza, a role similar to the head of the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria, where the IDF fully controls Area C, which accounts for approximately 60% of the entire region.

Goren will be tasked with overseeing strategic, long-term initiatives, like the expected return of some one million civilians to their homes in northern Gaza, as part of a potential hostage and truce deal.

Additionally, Goren will manage the IDF’s role in controlling the Gaza-Egypt border, particularly the Rafah border crossing, which has historically served as a lifeline and critical supply route for the Hamas terrorist organization.