The Trump Administration is putting pressure on international humanitarian organizations to cooperate with the new plan of Israel to resume the distribution of aid in the Gaza Strip after an FDI blockade of more than two months, three families familiar with the case told Israel Times this week.
The informed organizations of the initiative expressed heavy skepticism, arguing that it cannot adequately approach the humanitarian crisis in the enclave ravaged by the war and demands that they be accomplices of the “armament” of aid by Israel.
In the midst of this decline, the Trump administration told these organizations – including the World Food Program – that their American funding could be reduced if they do not cooperate, said a staff member of an international aid group, a senior Western diplomat and an Israeli official at the Times of Israel.
As part of his efforts to involve WFP on board, the Western diplomat said that US officials had organized a meeting earlier this week with the Executive Director of the Cindy McCain organization as well as representatives of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which was established in January in order to advance a new solution to the distribution of the aid that prevents him from Hamas and other groups terrorists. Representatives were also representatives of Safe Reach Solutions and UG Solutions, two American companies that have been contracted to secure humanitarian hubs created in southern Gaza for aid distribution.
Asked about the issue, a spokesperson for the State Department did not deny that the pressure was applied to international organizations.
“Although we have nothing to announce and we do not speak on behalf of the Foundation, we welcome movements to quickly obtain urgent food aid in Gaza in a way that prevents it from falling into the hands of terrorists. We have long called for creative solutions and a new thought that leaves secure Israel and helps the inhabitants of Gaza,” said the spokesperson.
The Palestinians line up for a hot meal in a charitable kitchen led by the World’s World Food Program (WFP) at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the Central Gaza Strip on April 26, 2025 (Eyad Baba / AFP)
The spokesperson for the State Department then referred the comments of US President Donald Trump of earlier this week in which he said: “We are going to help the inhabitants of Gaza because they are very badly treated with Hamas.”
“Trump said,” We take care of it weeks ago, and he thought it, “said the spokesman.
The World Food Program has not responded to requests for comments.
The GHF is still trying to obtain funding from various governments for the initiative, and although there was hope that the United Arab Emirates will be among the best donors, two familiar sources with the Abu Dhabi affair had not yet made such a commitment because of its concerns concerning the viability of the plan.
Nevertheless, GHF still plans to publicly unveil the initiative later this week, the Israeli official at the Times of Israel told the Israel. The spokesman for the State Department, Tammy Bruce, seemed to refer to this announcement during a Tuesday briefing when she told journalists: “An important announcement concerning the entry of the assistance to Gaza will be published in the coming days, and there are very good news.”
Trump himself said on Wednesday that there would be an announcement linked to Gaza in the coming 24 hours.
Israel does not wait, however, and the FDIs have already started to build the first of several humanitarian centers in the south of Gaza from which it plans to distribute civilian aid in the coming weeks, the Israeli official recognizing that certain Gazans “are on the brink of famine”.
The displaced Palestinians travel a makeshift tents in the Muwasi region of Khan Younis, in the Gaza Strip, May 5, 2025. (AP photo / Abdel Kareem Hana)
These hubs are paid by Israel, but Jerusalem aims that other parts of the project are funded by foreign governments and international organizations.
The Israeli official expressed his optimism on the fact that certain organizations will come up against, although the organizations currently involved in the Gaza humanitarian operation have published a joint declaration earlier this week by affirming that they will not cooperate after being informed by Jerusalem about what he had planned.
The Israeli initiative will create a new humanitarian area between the Philadelphi corridor along the southern border of Gaza with Egypt and the Morag corridor newly established about five kilometers to the north. The region largely constitutes the southern city of Gaza de Rafah. Those who enter the corridor will go through army control points in what the FDI hopes to prevent Hamas fighters from reaching the area.
The Israeli official said that the humanitarian area – while representing about ten percent of the band – is large enough to house the total Gaza population of around 2 million people, although Jerusalem also hopes that some of them will be able to leave the strip.
Until now, however, no country has manifested itself by proposing to consult the refugees of Gazan, Israel refusing to get involved publicly to allow those who leave to return. Certain higher members of the Coalition of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicate that the government plan to reoccupy the territory and establish colonies there.
Meanwhile, the ministers approved the creation of the new humanitarian mechanism that will be managed by GHF on Sunday.
The troops of the 188th armored brigade operate in the Rafah in the south of Gaza, in a photo of document published on May 6, 2025. (Israeli defense forces)
None of the three people listed on the GHF registration form in Switzerland has a humanitarian aid environment, but the Foundation is working to recruit experts in the field to sit on its advisory council, the Western diplomat said.
The mechanism is considering private American security entrepreneurs who guarantee aid centers, which will be located in the humanitarian area but far from the tent camps where civilians should be sheltered. Five to six thousand approved representatives will be allowed to travel to the aid centers once every two weeks to take a food box of around 40 pounds for their families, the officials said the plan.
The staff of the international aid group said that the plan did not take into account the current reality of the strip, where the desperate hungry gasans of food are likely to flood the aid centers once they have been opened.
The staff member also disputed the mechanism plan to facilitate the entry of 60 trucks to Gaza each day from a crossing, claiming that the amount does not approach what will be necessary to feed the population of Gazan already Mal Nourrie.
The Israeli official insisted that the figure of 60 trucks will be enough to prevent the famine of Gazans.
