We can expect aid to enter Gaza again soon, which is good news. The bad news is the IDF plans to expand their offensive.
Israel is planning to radically alter the way humanitarian aid is distributed in the Gaza Strip when it begins allowing assistance into the enclave in the coming weeks after what will have been a nearly two-and-a-half-month freeze, an Israeli and Arab official familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel this week.
The plan is to transition away from wholesale distribution and warehousing of aid and to instead have international organizations and private security contractors hand out boxes of food to individual Gazan families, according to the officials.
Each family will have a designated representative tasked with reaching an Israel Defense Forces security zone in southern Gaza, where aid will be distributed after going through several rounds of inspection. Each box will have enough food to last several days until family representatives will be allowed to return to the security zone to receive another parcel, the officials said, adding that Israel believes this method will make it harder for Hamas to divert aid to its fighters. (…)
The IDF in recent days has recommended that the Israeli government approve the resumption of humanitarian aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip, regardless of a hostage deal with the Hamas terror group, in a bid to avoid starvation among the Palestinian civilian population, according to military officials who briefed reporters earlier this week.
The IDF has made it clear to the political echelon that resuming the entry of aid will soon be necessary to avoid violations of international law and future legal problems for commanders taking part in the military operation. (…)
The military official acknowledged that “despite the military pressure being exerted, the Hamas terror organization remains unwilling [to agree to a deal].”
Therefore, the military official said the IDF was preparing to call up a large number of reserve troops in the coming period to “significantly” expand the offensive in Gaza by operating in new areas of the Strip.