Palestinians receive bags of flour and other humanitarian aid distributed by UNRWA in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says aid will reach only Gazan civilians in need, not Hamas.
By World Israel News Staff
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the renewal of humanitarian aid deliveries into the Gaza Strip late Sunday night following intense pressure from Washington to allow convoys carrying basic necessities to enter the coastal enclave.
The move to allow humanitarian aid comes as Israel launched a new offensive, dubbed Gideon’s Chariots, that aims to seize large swaths of the Strip and achieve a decisive victory over Hamas.
Netanyahu’s office confirmed the decision in a media statement, saying that aid was being renewed after a months-long halt due to a recommendation by the IDF and “the operational need to enable the expansion of intense fighting to defeat Hamas.”
Continuing to prevent aid from entering the Strip would “endanger the continued operation to defeat Hamas,” the statement read.
“Israel will act to deny Hamas the ability to seize control of the distribution of humanitarian aid in order to ensure that the aid does not reach Hamas terrorists,” Netanyahu’s office emphasized.
Notably, Netanyahu announced the measure during a security cabinet meeting, without taking a vote from the ministers on the matter.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir demanded a vote regarding the move, but he was shot down, according to Hebrew-language media reports.
“The prime minister is making a grave mistake with this move, which doesn’t even have majority [support from the war cabinet],” Ben-Gvir said in a press release.
“We must crush Hamas and not simultaneously give it oxygen,” he added.
Speaking in the United Arab Emirates on Friday, President Donald Trump pledged that aid would reach Gazan civilians.
“We’re looking at Gaza. And we’re going to get that taken care of,” Trump said. “A lot of people are starving.”
Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Special Envoy to the Middle East, told ABC News on Sunday that Israel had agreed to resume humanitarian aid deliveries to the Strip.
“We do not want to see a humanitarian crisis, and we will not allow it to occur on President Trump’s watch,” Witkoff said.
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