Israel’s defense minister warns as Hamas allies send goods into Gaza David Isaac
Defense Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday warned all parties bringing aid into the Gaza Strip that attempts to smuggle unauthorized goods or equipment constitute grounds for the seizure and confiscation of the truck and the sanctioning of the driver.
Katz issued his announcement through the National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing of Israel, saying parties held accountable will include merchants, truck owners, truck drivers, warehouses and packing houses.
The minister’s warning followed an investigative report by HaKol HaYehudi (“The Jewish Voice”), on Feb. 10 revealing Hamas-aligned groups were sending aid to the terrorist group.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, like Katz a member of the Security Cabinet, sent a letter that same day to Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman, military secretary to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, citing the Hebrew news site’s report and calling for action.
Smotrich congratulated Katz for taking immediate steps. “This important exposure prevents unnecessary risk to Israeli citizens and IDF soldiers,” he said.
“As I have warned more than once, in writing and in speech, the State of Israel must take full responsibility for the distribution of humanitarian aid and completely prevent it from reaching Hamas. The absurdity must stop,” Smotrich said.
HaKol HaYehudi revealed that two organizations designated by Israel as terrorist entities in 2008 (mainly for raising money for Hamas) were bringing in goods into Gaza. (The outlet told JNS that it suspects other proscribed groups are also bringing in goods, but it doesn’t yet have definite proof.)
The two groups are the Australia-based Human Appeal International and the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH), which was also sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2008. IHH is infamous for organizing the Mavi Marmara Gaza protest flotilla in 2010.
The groups engage in so-called Da’wah; that is, propagandizing globally for Hamas and its terrorism through welfare, educational and cultural activity.
HaKol HaYehudi uncovered the method these groups use to send their supplies to Gaza. First, they transport it to Jordan, where it passes through the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization, which is authorized by Israel to send trucks into Gaza. Jordan has even parachuted equipment into Gaza several times.
In most cases, the equipment enters the Gaza Strip via the Allenby Crossing from Jordan to Israel. Once in Gaza, supplies are delivered to operatives of IHH and Human Appeal, where it is turned over to Hamas, helping to maintain the terrorist group’s grip on power.
(Many of the local activists who wear aid vests are in fact activists affiliated with Hamas, HaKol Hayehudi reported.)
The Hamas-aligned groups do not hide their provenance. Truck convoys from Jordan plainly display banners bearing the symbols of IHH in some cases. Boxes are clearly marked with IHH or Human Appeal logos.
In recent days, tent camps have been sprouting up less than two miles from communities in Israel on the other side of the security fence.
These camps appear mainly in northern Gaza, which Hamas is eager to repopulate after Israel evacuated the Netzarim Corridor, which divided the Strip into two.
The tents bear large brands of one or another of the terrorist groups, HaKol HaYehudi noted.
Yet, Israel’s security establishment had denied previous reports in 2023 by the news site, along with Israel Hayom, another Hebrew-language outlet, that Hamas-affiliated groups were sending aid and equipment into Gaza.
The Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), in response to an Israel Hayom report, said “the security establishment is conducting a monitoring process” and that “so far, there has been no indication that the aforementioned declared organizations have brought goods into the Gaza Strip.”
In response to a HaKol Hayehudi request for comment on the new revelations, COGAT, the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories unit, insisted that “there is no coordination or engagement between the organization in question and COGAT for the purpose of bringing tents into the Gaza Strip. We emphasize that before bringing aid into the Gaza Strip, without exception, it undergoes a strict security check at the various crossings.”
The Shin Bet declined to respond to HaKol Hayehudi’s inquiries, citing earlier reports by the news site that were unflattering to the security agency.
Comments are closed.
