Groups fear Israeli proposal for controlling aid in Gaza will forcibly displace people

Israel's proposals to use military for aid distribution in Gaza are criticised by U.N. and aid groups.

Israel has blocked aid from entering Gaza for two months and says it won’t allow food, fuel, water or medicine into the besieged territory until it can prevent Hamas and other militants from siphoning it away from Palestinian civilians.

But officials from the U.N. and aid groups say proposals Israel has floated to use its military to distribute vital supplies are untenable. These officials say they would allow military and political objectives to impede humanitarian goals, put restrictions on who is eligible to give and receive aid, and could force large numbers of Palestinians to move – which would violate international law.

Israel has not detailed any of its proposals publicly or put them down in writing. But aid groups have been documenting their conversations with Israeli officials, and The Associated Press obtained more than 40 pages of notes summarising Israel’s proposals and aid groups’ concerns about them.

Aid groups say Israel shouldn’t have any direct role in distributing aid once it arrives in Gaza, and most are saying they will refuse to be part of any such system.

“Israel has the responsibility to facilitate our work, not weaponise it,” said Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for the U.N. agency that oversees the coordination of aid Gaza.

“The humanitarian community is ready to deliver, and either our work is enabled... or Israel will have the responsibility to find another way to meet the needs of 2.1 million people and bear the moral and legal consequences if they fail to do so,” he said.

None of the ideas Israel has proposed are set in stone, aid workers say, but the conversations have come to a standstill as groups push back.