May 9 (UPI) — The United States is backing a new plan that will see food and other aid supplied to Gaza privately, officials confirmed on Friday.
“President [Donald] Trump has made very clear that one of the most urgent things that needs to happen is humanitarian aid into Gaza,” U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said Friday, during a news conference outside the American embassy in Jerusalem.
“Today we are announcing that process is ongoing, it is launched.”
Huckabee did not give an exact date as to when aid may start flowing into Gaza under the new operation.
“It is going to require the partnership not only of governments but of NGOs, charitable organizations and nonprofits from around the world,” Huckabee said Friday.
“There are several partners who have already agreed to be a part of the effort. We are not prepared to name them yet because some of the details of their participation are still being worked out.”
He did say Israeli forces would not participate in distribution, aside from providing “necessary military security” around distribution points.
Private entities with their own security will be permitted to distribute aid in the Palestinian enclave, which has been under a total Israeli blockade since early March.
Huckabee shot down speculation Israel was behind the plan and would control the efforts.
“They will not be involved in the distribution of the food or even bringing the food into Gaza,” calling news reports that Israel will control the operation “wholly inaccurate.”
International aid agencies including the United Nations, have been unable to distribute supplies, leading to little or no food in the Palestinian enclave.
In April, the U.N. World Food Program said only half of Gaza’s 2.1 million population was getting around 25% of its daily food needs.
The Israel Defense Forces has accused members of Hamas of stealing aid after it gets delivered, something Huckabee reiterated Friday.
“Previous actions have often been met with Hamas stealing the food that was intended for hungry people,” Huckabee told reporters.
“Nobody is interested in helping Hamas, because Hamas has taken food that was intended to help very desperate citizens and stolen it from them, sold it on the black market and then took the money to buy weaponry to murder more people.”
The former Governor of Arkansas said Trump had approved the plan with stipulations that the food aid be distributed “efficiently and safely” while also ensuring it is protected from theft by Hamas.
“There still remains a desperate need for humanitarian aid that Hamas is obviously not capable or willing to provide,” Huckabee said Friday.
Hamas remains in possession of 59 Israeli hostages being held in Gaza, with only 21 believed to be alive.
International aid organizations were critical of the plan Friday, instead calling for Israel to lift its total blockade of Gaza to permit food and medical supplies to cross the border.
“Humanitarian aid should never be used as a bargaining chip,” UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told reporters in Geneva.
Huckabee on Friday admitted the new process “will not be perfect, especially in the early days.”