Is Israel’s Secret Plan on Gaza Aid Feasible?

Hamas officials earlier warned against introducing "new rules" in the Gaza Strip and pledged a crackdown on "anyone who tampers with the internal front."

Israeli security officials’ secret plan to enlist anti-Hamas Palestinians in charge of Gaza aid is "not practical or realistic," Ayman Yousef, a professor in political sciences and international relations at the Arab-American University in Palestine, told Sputnik.

"In real terms, no one can control Gaza or distribute any humanitarian assistance without the approval of Hamas or other resistance groups. I think the discussion must go around a kind of unified Palestinian, let's say, umbrella or unified Palestinian groups, those who control the land and those who can distribute," Yousef pointed out.

The pundit added that he doesn’t think Hamas will "agree to this idea to find some local leaders not affiliated with this Palestinian militant group but with some other political factions to manage or to administer the distribution of humanitarian aid."

Yousef suggested that Hamas "will fight any move to have this kind of local leadership," which would be in control in Gaza.

"I think Hamas prefers to have a kind of political cooperation and political coordination between different groups. And they prefer some international humanitarian organizations to be in charge. But to have local leaders or local tribes, governments - this is not the Hamas fever at this stage," the political scientist concluded.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) earlier cited unnamed sources as saying that Israeli intelligence services along with representatives of Egypt, the UAE and Jordan are "quietly" working on a plan under which Palestinians who don't support Hamas will be in charge of distributing aid to the Gaza Strip. When the Palestinian-Israeli conflict ends, this group could become the basis for a new post-war administration in Gaza, according to the sources.

The insiders also said that the aid would enter by land and sea after Israeli inspection and would head to large warehouses in central Gaza where Palestinians would then distribute it.

Hamas has, meanwhile, dubbed anyone who works with the Israelis as traitors and threatened them with death. The militant group’s security official said that, “Accepting communication with the occupation forces by heads of families and tribes for work in the Gaza Strip is considered national betrayal, which we will not allow.”

The official also warned that Hamas "will strike with an iron hand against anyone who tampers with the internal front in the Gaza Strip" and that the group "will not permit the imposition of new rules."

At least 32,226 people have been killed and 74,518 more injured in Gaza since the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in October 2023, according to the latest estimates by Gaza Health Ministry. Israel says that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’ surprise attack on the Jewish state on October 7, which prompted the Israel Defense Forces to invade Gaza, which is also hit by ongoing Israeli airstrikes.