Israel to bypass Hamas by delivering humanitarian aid via northern Gaza

Palestinians walk through destruction in the Nusseirat refugee camp in Gaza Strip. Pic/AP

To bypass Hamas, Israeli humanitarian aid to Gaza will be delivered through a reopened crossing on the northeastern side of the Strip, Israel's War Cabinet decided.

Till now, humanitarian aid has passed through either the Kerem Shalom crossing or Egypt's Rafah crossing. Both are on the southern end of Gaza, next to Rafah, where Hamas reportedly has four battalions. Hamas has been hijacking trucks carrying food, water, medicine, fuel and other aid.

In the coming days, deliveries to areas of Gaza under Israeli control will be routed through the site of the old Karni crossing, near Kibbutz Nahal Oz. Karni was a cargo terminal that opened in 1994 after the signing of the Oslo Accords. It was closed in 2011 for security reasons as deliveries were increasingly routed through the larger and more modern Kerem Shalom crossing. Israel demolished Karni's remaining structures in 2022.

Humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza are unpopular among Israelis. For weeks, protesters chanting "Don't feed Hamas" have tried to disrupt the aid trucks at the Kerem Shalom crossing and other points where the deliveries are inspected. Netanyahu has defended the aid transfers, saying a degree of aid is necessary to continue the war to free hostages and remove Hamas from control of Gaza.

At least 1,200 people were killed and 240 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas's attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the remaining 134 hostages, Israel recently declared 31 of them dead.

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