A plan developed by Israel and supported by the United States to restart humanitarian aid deliveries in Gaza will, at the outset, only reach about 60 percent of the local population, according to a document sent by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to potential contributors.
The memo, which was reviewed by The Times of Israel on Thursday, concedes that civilians in Gaza are “enduring extreme deprivation.” However, it says the “Secure Distribution Sites” (SDS) designed to deliver the aid will initially only reach around 1.2 million people out of the approximately 2 million who live in the enclave.
Although the memo says the four SDS locations are built to “expand past 2 million” in capacity, it does not clarify how long the limited initial rollout will last before expansion.
In addition, the document makes it clear that each SDS will take time to scale up even to the goal of serving 300,000 people per site.
One Israeli source told The Times of Israel on Wednesday that the government hopes other nations will begin absorbing Palestinian civilians, which would ease the burden on aid distribution, given the program’s limited initial reach.
However, to date, no governments have agreed to participate in such relocation, and while Israeli officials describe it as “voluntary,” regional nations are viewing it more as coerced displacement, particularly with Israeli military actions expected to ramp up significantly if a ceasefire deal isn’t finalized before President Donald Trump visits the region next week.
The Israeli official also acknowledged that with the breakdown of the ceasefire on March 1 and no aid reaching Gaza since then, the IDF is aware that the population is “nearing starvation.” As a result, the intention is to begin resupplying aid in the near future.
A primary goal of the program, according to Israeli officials, is to ensure aid does not fall into the hands of Hamas—something past efforts have failed to prevent since the conflict began.
Some critics argue that the Israeli government’s unwillingness to promote a credible alternative to Hamas has helped keep the terror group entrenched in Gaza, even if Israeli forces have dealt it serious blows on the battlefield.
Nonetheless, Israel is placing its hopes in the GHF-led effort to succeed where others have not—by keeping Hamas out of the aid chain altogether.
The SDS hubs will be located in a designated humanitarian zone being created in southern Gaza, between the Philadelphi Corridor near the Egyptian border and the newly formed Morag Corridor about five kilometers to the north.
This humanitarian zone will primarily include areas in and around Rafah, and the IDF plans to use military checkpoints to control access, in hopes of preventing Hamas operatives from entering.
According to the memo, aid packages distributed at the SDS hubs will include boxes containing 50 meals (each totaling 1,750 calories), hygiene products, and medical supplies. Between 5,000 and 6,000 pre-screened individuals will be permitted to walk to the sites once every one to two weeks to retrieve a roughly 40-pound (18-kilogram) box of supplies for their household.
“To ensure the integrity and safety of aid delivery, GHF’s logistics subcontractors will utilize armored vehicles to transport supplies to and from SDS locations,” the memo states. The companies handling logistics will include U.S.-based security firms such as UG Solutions and Safe Reach Solutions, both of which previously helped maintain security along the Netzarim Corridor earlier this year.
The memo also clarifies that Israeli troops will not be stationed in or near the SDS locations in order to “maintain the neutral and civilian-facing nature of operations.”
However, one staff member from an international aid group who was briefed on the program told The Times of Israel that the strategy overlooks Gaza’s current situation, where widespread hunger may result in massive crowds overwhelming the distribution points once they’re operational.
This individual also criticized the plan’s cap on aid deliveries—limiting truck entries to 60 per day through a single border crossing—as wholly inadequate given the dire nutritional state of the Gazan population.
The GHF initiative is being crafted in close consultation with the Israeli government, while the Trump administration has been actively encouraging foreign governments and global institutions to financially support and collaborate on the project.
On Wednesday, U.S. special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff met with United Nations Security Council diplomats in New York to brief them on the aid operation.
While GHF is still in the process of assembling its executive team, talks are underway between U.S. and Israeli officials and former World Food Programme executive director David Beasley, who is being considered to head the organization, according to a Western diplomat.
Axios reported that someone close to Beasley confirmed he is in discussions about leading the foundation—but only on condition that urgent humanitarian aid is restored to Gaza as part of his role.
{Matzav.com}