There is no way to prevent Hamas helping itself to aid sent to Gaza, according to two of Israel’s most senior former security officials.
Their assessment, based on years trying to rein in the terrorist group, undermines a key condition of an aid agreement brokered by President Joe Biden on Wednesday.
He ended his seven-hour visit to Israel by saying he had secured a deal with Israel and Egypt to allow humanitarian supplies into the besieged Palestinian territory.
But he said the assistance would be stopped if any of it was diverted or stolen by Hamas, the group that controls the tiny enclave, collecting taxes and providing services such as schools and hospitals.
‘I know Hamas very well because for five years of my life I dealt with them,’ Ido Gabay, former chief of staff for the national security adviser in the Israeli prime minister’s office.
‘There is zero chance that you will get 100 percent of this aid to the ones who need it.
Aid for the Gaza Strip being unloaded from an Emirates cargo plane on the tarmac of Egypt’s el-Arish airport in the north Sinai Peninsula on Thursday. Thousands of tons of food, water and medicine is stuck on the Egyptian side of the border
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden said he had secured a deal with Israel and Egypt to allow humanitarian supplies into the besieged Palestinian territory – so long as none went to Hamas
‘The economy and the rule of law in the Gaza Strip have the DNA of Hamas built into them, meaning that anything that goes into the Gaza Strip, even if it’s a bottle of water, or if it’s a Sony PlayStation or BMW, they know how to benefit from it.’
Ido Gabay, former chief of staff for the national security adviser in the Israeli prime minister’s office
Jacob Nagel, who was national security adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said there were ways of taking care of the problem.
‘Ask me if I can guarantee that nothing will go to Hamas? I cannot,’ he said.
‘But the solution is simple … it will be bombed.’
Israel has kept up a steady bombardment of Gaza ever since thousands of Hamas gunmen fanned out from the coastal enclave, killing at least 1,400 people on October 7.
It is massing troops for an expected ground invasion and has the area effectively under siege.
Biden arrived on a mission to both offer solidarity to Israel and try to ease an acute humanitarian crisis.
Just before he left, he said Israel had agreed to allow aid into Gaza from Egypt. It will come with inspections and safeguards against it falling into the hands of terrorists.
He added: ‘Let me be clear: If Hamas diverts or steals the assistance, they will have demonstrated once again that they have no concern for the welfare of the Palestinian people and it will end.
‘As a practical matter, it will stop the international community from being able to provide this aid.’
The Israeli Defense Forces have told civilians to leave the northern part of the Gaza Strip. Egypt closed its border crossing after the Hamas attack on Israel, leaving civilians stranded and hundreds of trucks carrying aid waiting at the border
Image grab of footage recovered from bodies of Hamas fighters bodycam show their infiltration into Israel. Former security officials fear aid will fall into the hands of Hamas
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid from Egyptian charities for Palestinians wait for the reopening of the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian side of the border
Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry, told Al Arabiya TV that the supplies would be supervised by the United Nations.
But Israel has a long memory of aid falling into the wrong hands.
It accused Hamas of using cement intended to rebuild bombed homes for building a network of tunnels and bunkers to protect fighters and smuggle contraband.
And just this week a U.N. agency said trucks from the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health carted off fuel and medical gear from one of its facilities in Gaza.
‘Our staff were compelled to evacuate UNRWA headquarters in Gaza City on a few hours notice during the night of Friday October 13,’ it said. ‘Since then, UNRWA has had no access to the compound and no additional details about the removal of the assets.’
It later deleted social media posts about the incident and claimed it was ‘a movement of basic medical supplies from the UNRWA warehouse to health partners.’
Gabay said it was a classic example of one of two Hamas tactics.
‘They either commandeer it or they take a value added tax that goes directly to their pocket, not the government pocket, to the Palestinian Authority, but to their pockets meaning to the organization’s pocket for the military efforts,’ he said.
Smoke rises from an airstrike on Gaza. Israel has kept up a heavy bombardment on the territory
Palestinian emergency services and local citizens search for victims in buildings destroyed during Israeli air raids in the southern Gaza Strip
He added that the deal on aid was a political deal, a concrete win for Biden and designed to placate Arab anxiety about the crisis in Gaza.
Aryeh Lightstone, former adviser to Donald Trump’s ambassador to Israel, said politics and placating critics at home had been put above security by Biden.
‘It is impossible,’ he said of keeping aid from Hamas.
‘It’s reckless and it’s feckless policy catering towards politics instead of the safety of our American hostages and Israeli hospitals.’
For his part, Nagel said Israel was ready to agree to the plan before Biden arrived. Delivering aid was a useful tool at a time the country’s defence forces were telling civilians to leave the northern end of the Gaza Strip before the next phase of its operation.
‘It serves one of our goals, the goal of moving the population from north to south,’ he said.
‘We can tell them: Look if you move, you get water, some food. If you stay, you starve: Pray to Hamas.’
The arrangement has also angered families of hostages held by Hamas. They said any aid deliveries should be tied to releasing their relatives.
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