Gaza aid surplus fueling Hamas efforts to regroup, IDF document warns

Israeli documents warn that the amount of aid flowing into the Gaza Strip each day greatly exceeds the area’s actual humanitarian needs and is being used to strengthen Hamas.

By World Israel News Staff

Internal Israeli defense documents warn that the current volume of aid and commercial goods entering the Gaza Strip far exceeds humanitarian needs and is being exploited by Hamas for economic and military recovery, Israel Hayom reported Tuesday morning.

According to the report, a recent document sent by Maj. Gen. Yoram Halevi, the coordinator of government activities in the territories, warned Israel’s political leadership that the entry of about 600 trucks a day into Gaza poses security and strategic risks.

The document said Israel continues to permit aid at that level mainly because of commitments made under the ceasefire agreement.

But according to UN assessments and a professional review conducted by COGAT together with intelligence officials and international actors, Gaza requires about 250 trucks a day to meet basic humanitarian needs.

The document reportedly warned that the gap between the required amount and the actual number of trucks entering Gaza is creating “significant surpluses” that allow Hamas to reassert civilian and economic control.

According to the assessment, Hamas has systematically exploited the aid flow in recent months by taxing merchants, seizing goods, storing food in its warehouses, attempting smuggling operations and controlling distribution mechanisms and the local market.

“Every truck beyond the actual humanitarian need strengthens Hamas,” the document said, according to the report.

The document also warned that the high number of trucks is reducing the quality of inspections and increasing the risk of smuggling. More than 75% of detected smuggling attempts reportedly involved tobacco and cigarette-related products, but inspectors also found dual-use items, including pure glycerin and motor oil.

A separate Southern Command document discussed in the Knesset reportedly warned that the problem extends beyond excess aid.

According to the report, it also involves the entry of materials that could be used to build explosive devices, as well as machinery and generators that may serve civilian infrastructure, hospitals or Hamas’s weapons industry.

Security officials asked by lawmakers whether Israel tracks the machines and generators after they enter Gaza said no such monitoring exists, the report said.

Officials told Israel Hayom that intelligence had not shown that hospital equipment brought into Gaza had been transferred to Hamas military use.

The report also said the handling of dual-use materials has been complicated by coordination with the United States at the joint command center in Kiryat Gat.

While approval decisions are made in discussions between the IDF and the US military, the Shin Bet keeps its updated list of restricted materials classified and does not submit it for Knesset review, according to the report.

The documents also point to two additional smuggling routes: drones carrying drugs and weapons from Egypt and Israel into Gaza, and “fence smuggling” carried out by criminal groups outside the truck convoys.

The IDF recently asked police for help stopping drone smuggling after large drones were identified crossing into Gaza carrying drugs, Israel Hayom reported.

Minister Orit Strock visited the Kerem Shalom crossing last week and said inspectors had found tobacco hidden in tea bags, machine oil in ordinary oil bottles and glycerin in water bottles.

The report said inspections at the crossing have intercepted much of the tobacco, but Strock is expected to ask the security cabinet to address the broader problem of repeat smugglers, truck drivers and factories where concealed goods are packed.

The aid figures and smuggling concerns have already been presented to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a small ministerial team, according to the report.

Israel Hayom reported that Netanyahu instructed officials last Tuesday night to reduce the number of trucks in line with the recommendation, but reversed course before the order was implemented the next morning and said the current aid volume should continue.

The political leadership believes the United States is pressuring Israel to maintain the current level of aid, despite Hamas not fulfilling ceasefire commitments to disarm, the report said. During Operation Roar of the Lion, operational constraints reportedly reduced the number of trucks to about 250 a day, a level that Israeli officials concluded met Gaza’s humanitarian needs.