After Israeli hints regarding the possibility of delegating the distribution of aid arriving by sea or land to local Palestinian leaders from tribes and others, Hamas warned against cooperating with Israeli forces. A security source in Hamas threatened that the movement would strike hard against anyone who "tampered with the internal front in the Gaza Strip and would not allow new rules to be imposed," according to the Hamas-affiliated website "Al-Majd Security."
The source considered that "the attempt by the occupation to communicate with leaders and tribes of some families to operate inside Gaza constitutes national treason," affirming that Hamas would not allow it. Additionally, it viewed Israel's efforts "to establish bodies to manage Gaza as a failed conspiracy that will not materialize," as reported by Reuters on Monday.
This warning came following Israeli media reports indicating that Israel was considering arming certain individuals or tribes in Gaza to provide security protection for aid convoys as part of a broader plan to introduce humanitarian relief after the fighting ends. Meanwhile, the office of the Israeli Prime Minister declined to comment on the report, which emerged a week after dozens of Palestinians were killed in an incident involving a gathering around a convoy of aid trucks entering northern Gaza, followed by security forces firing on the crowds.
Israel, which has agreed to the construction of a temporary floating dock off the besieged Gaza Strip with U.S. support to aid millions of Palestinians nearing starvation, is betting that delivering aid directly to residents "will contribute to the collapse of Hamas' rule," as Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated on Sunday. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) reiterated yesterday that hunger is widespread throughout the coastal enclave, noting that the situation in northern Gaza is tragic, especially since Israel is preventing land aid from entering despite repeated international and UN appeals.
