Israel has prevented the aid from entering Gaza for two months and says that it will not allow food, fuel, water or medication in the besieged territory until it sets up a system giving it control of the distribution.
But UN officials and aid groups say that the proposals that Israel has floated is untenable. These officials say that they would allow military and political objectives to prevent humanitarian objectives, to make restrictions on which is eligible to give and receive aid, and could force a large number of Palestinians to move, which would violate international law.
Israel has not detailed any of his proposals publicly or has submitted them in writing. But the aid groups have documented their conversations with Israeli officials, and the Associated Press obtained more than 40 pages of notes summarizing Israel’s proposals and the concerns of the aid groups about them.
Friday, the Times of Israel reported that the FDI planned to move away from the wholesale distribution and the storage of aid and to have in place of international organizations and private security entrepreneurs give foods of food to individual Gazan families, according to Israeli and familiar Arab officials.
The FDI will not be directly involved in the distribution of aid, but the troops will be responsible for providing an external security layer to private entrepreneurs and international organizations distributing aid, officials said.
There is no exact calendar at the time the new system will become operational, but the FDIs believe that it has only several weeks before a major humanitarian crisis, said the Israeli official.
The Palestinians are waiting to receive meals from volunteers in Khan Younis, in the south of Gaza, on May 2, 2025 (Abed Rahim Khatib / Flash90)
Aid groups say that Israel should not have a direct role in the distribution of aid once it has arrived in Gaza, and most say they will refuse to be part of such a system.
“Israel is responsible for facilitating our work, not armaments,” said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the United Nations agency who oversees the coordination of Gaza aid.
“The humanitarian community is ready to deliver, and either our work is activated … or Israel will be responsible for finding another way to meet the needs of 2.1 million people and to bear the moral and legal consequences if they do not,” he said.
None of the ideas that Israel has proposed is established in stone, say the humanitarian workers, but the conversations came to stop while the groups grow back.
The Israeli military agency responsible for coordinating the aid to Gaza, known as the Cogat, did not respond to a request for comments and referred to the Prime Minister’s office. The Prime Minister’s office did not respond either.
A young girl wears a pot recovered inside a damaged building which was affected in an Israeli strike in the Camer camp for the Palestinian refugees in the Gaza central band on May 2, 2025. (Eyad Baba / AFP)
Since the beginning of March, Israel has cut Gaza of all imports, leading to what would be the most serious shortage of food, medicine and other supplies in almost 19 months of war with Hamas. Israel says that the objective of its blockade is to put Hamas to free the remaining hostages of the 251 taken during its October 7, 2023, in Israel, which killed some 1,200 people and began the war.
Israel says that he must take control of the aid distribution, arguing without providing proof that Hamas and other terrorists siphon supplies. Acidére workers deny that there is an important diversion of assistance to terrorists, saying that the UN strictly monitors distribution.
Alarm among help groups
One of Israel’s main proposals is a more centralized system – made up of five food distribution centers – which would give it greater monitoring, according to aid groups.
Israel proposed to have all the aid sent by a single crossing in the south of Gaza and to use military or private security entrepreneurs to deliver it to these hubs, according to the documents shared with AP and the workers of the familiar banters with the discussions. The distribution centers would all be south of the netzarim corridor which isolates northern Gaza from the rest of the territory, according to documents.
One of the biggest fears of the aid groups is that requiring the Palestinians to recover the help of a small number of sites, instead of bringing it closer to the place where they live, would force families to move to obtain help. International humanitarian law prohibits the forced transfer of people.
Aid officials also fear that Palestinians can find themselves definitively moved, living in “de facto internment conditions”, according to a document signed by 20 aid groups operating in Gaza.
The displaced Palestinians seen near their tents in the north of the Gaza Strip, on May 2, 2025. (Ali Hassan / Flash90)
HUBS also make safety fears. With so few of them, huge crowds of desperate Palestinians will have to come together in places that are probably close to Israeli troops.
“I’m very afraid about it,” said Claire Nicolet, emergency coordinator for doctors without borders.
Given the population of more than 2 million people in Gaza, global humanitarian aid standards would generally suggest setting up around 100 distribution sites – or 20 times more than Israel is currently proposing – said aid groups.
Aside from the improper nature of Israel’s proposals for food distribution, help groups say that Israel has not yet explained how its new system would explain other needs, including health care and repair of basic infrastructure, including water delivery.
“Humanitarian aid is more complex than food rations in a box that you take once a month,” said Gavin Kelleher, who worked in Gaza for the Norwegian Refugee Council. Help boxes can weigh more than 100 pounds and transport in Gaza is limited, partly due to fuel shortages.
Experts say that Israel fears that if Hamas seizes the aid, this will make the dependent population of the terrorist group to access critical food supplies. He could use the income from the sale of aid to recruit more combatants, said Kobi Michael, principal researcher of two Israeli reflection groups, the Institute for National Security Studies and the Misgav Institute.
The displaced Palestinians line up to receive a meal in the Northern Gaza Strip, May 2, 2025. (Ali Hassan / Flash90)
Private military entrepreneurs
While help groups repel the idea of Israel playing a direct distribution role within Gaza, Israel responded by exploring the possibility of outsourcing certain roles to private security entrepreneurs.
Help groups say they are opposed to any armed or uniform staff who could potentially intimidate the Palestinians or endanger them.
In AP reports, aid groups have said that a security company based in the United States, Safe Reach Solutions, had contacted partners to test a Military Corridor of Netzarim’s Military Corridor, just south of Gaza City, the largest in the territory.
TSAhal troops operate in the Gaza Strip, on a document photo issued on April 26, 2025. (Israeli defense forces)
Help groups have urged each other not to participate in the pilot program, saying that he could create a precedent damaging that could be repeated in other countries faced with crises.
Safe Reach Solutions did not respond to comment requests.
Whether Israel distributes aid or uses private entrepreneurs to it, aid groups claim that this would affect humanitarian principles, including impartiality and independence.
A spokesperson for the EU Commission said private companies are not considered humanitarian assistance partners eligible for their grants. The EU opposes any change that would lead to Israel to take full control of Gaza aid, the spokesman said.
The US State Department refused to comment on the negotiations in progress.
The displaced Palestinians seen near their tents in the central band of Gaza, on May 1, 2025. (Ali Hassan / Flash90)
Proposals to restrict who can deliver and receive help
Another concern is an Israeli proposition that would allow authorities to determine whether the Palestinians were eligible for assistance based on “opaque procedures”, according to the notes of the aid groups.
Aid groups, on the other hand, were informed by Israel that they will have to re -register with the government and provide personal information on their employees. They say that Israel told them that, in the future, this could prohibit organizations for various reasons, including the criticism of Israel, or any activity which, according to her, promoted the “delegitimation” of Israel.
Arwa Damon, founder of the International Network for Aid, Relief and Assistance, said that Israel has increasingly prohibited the humanitarian workers in Gaza who had already been authorized. Israel has given no reason to intervene, she said.
The Palestinians on the site of an Israeli air strike west of Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, on May 1, 2025 (Abed Rahim Khatib / Flash90)
Help groups are trying to remain united on a range of questions, especially not to allow Israel to veterinarian or people receiving help. But they say they are supported in a corner.
“For us, working directly with the military in the delivery of the aid is terrifying,” said Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam policy leader for Israel and the Palestinian territories. “This should worry each Palestinian from Gaza, but also all humanitarian workers.”
