Israel freezes Gaza aid after minister threatens to topple gov’t

Israeli prime minister and defense minister admit Hamas managing to steal incoming Gaza aid despite new precautions, reportedly order temporary halt to aid transfers until new system devised.

By World Israel News Staff

Israeli leaders on Wednesday ordered that aid transfers to the Gaza Strip be suspended, following revelations that the Hamas terror organization has managed to resume the large-scale theft of incoming goods, Israeli media outlets reported.

Late Wednesday night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz acknowledged that Hamas has managed to seize humanitarian aid, despite a new delivery system aimed at preventing Hamas from stealing goods.

“Following intelligence received in the past 24 hours indicating that Hamas is once again taking over humanitarian aid entering northern Gaza and stealing it from civilians,” Netanyahu and Katz said in a joint statement, the two leaders have ordered the IDF to draft plans within 48 hours “to prevent Hamas from taking control of humanitarian aid in Gaza.”

Until a new system of aid deliveries and distribution is drafted, aid transfers to Gaza will be prohibited, Katz and Netanyahu instructed.

The joint statement came just 45 minutes after former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett posted a video to his X/Twitter account showing Hamas operatives hijacking aid trucks in the northern Gaza Strip.

Bennett claimed that IDF soldiers had complained to him of the phenomenon and asked for help.

“Soldiers on the ground told me these are the current orders — to let in trucks without oversight,” Bennett said.

“This is how we keep feeding Hamas with money and power.”

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich responded by demanding the government halt aid transfers to Gaza until a solution to the matter is found, and reportedly threatened to bolt the government, taking his Religious Zionist Party out of the coalition.