Satellite images appear to show the construction of three large aid distribution sites in southern Gaza, amid reports about a controversial new United States-backed plan to bring more humanitarian aid to Gaza.
The distribution points will open in the “coming days,” as phase B of the new aid distribution plan developed with the U.S., Netanyahu said.
In phase B, the aid will, in theory, be distributed at these aid distribution points, operated by American companies, but with some coordination from the Israel Defense Forces, Netanyahu said.
Shown a satellite image of the likely aid construction sites, UNRWA Communications Director Juliette Touma directed ABC News to Lazzarini’s statement criticizing the plan.
The private intelligence firm Maiar told ABC News that its analysts did not see obvious signs of militarization at the likely aid sites.
Three sizable aid distribution facilities appear to have been built in southern Gaza, according to satellite photos, as part of a contentious new plan supported by the US to increase humanitarian aid reaching Gaza.
The photos document construction that has been going on since the beginning of April in three locations around Rafah, Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in public on Wednesday that “American companies” will run new aid distribution centers, which will be “secured by the IDF.”. Phase B of the new aid distribution plan, which was created in collaboration with the U.S. A. According to Netanyahu.
“We came up with a different plan with the United States to provide basic food to civilians and children that will not reach Hamas in order to prevent Hamas from seizing control of humanitarian aid. And it is separated into three stages,” Netanyahu stated on Wednesday, using a Hebrew translation.
Gaza received basic food in phase A. Since then, 87 trucks delivering aid have arrived, the Gaza Government Media Office reported on Wednesday. Eleven weeks have passed since trucks carrying fresh aid first arrived in the Gaza Strip.
According to Netanyahu, the aid will supposedly be dispersed at these aid distribution locations in phase B, which are run by American businesses with some assistance from the Israel Defense Forces. According to Netanyahu, this is required to stop Hamas from stealing aid that enters the strip or reselling it to Gaza residents at an exorbitant price.
In line with recent statements made by Jake Wood, director of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), who told CNN that his organization intended to open three new aid distribution sites in southern Gaza and one in central Gaza, the satellite images, which ABC News analyzed, support this claim. It wasn’t immediately clear where the central Gaza site was supposed to be.
Israeli media outlets revealed a GHF memo that stated the IDF would not be involved in aid distribution and that private security personnel would guard logistics routes and aid distribution centers.
The U. A. Although the State Department and the Israeli government have publicly endorsed the GHF plan, it has drawn criticism from well-known humanitarian groups, such as the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, which is the primary UN agency working in Gaza.
In a social media post on May 17, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini claimed that “new plans” for aid in Gaza were a waste of money. In January, UNRWA was prohibited from conducting operations on Israeli soil due to allegations that it collaborates with Hamas, a claim that it has refuted.
UNICEF is among those who have criticized the plan, arguing that it would force more people in the north of Gaza to relocate if the majority of aid was distributed in the south.
After the Israeli Defense Forces revealed the operation’s outline on May 5, a spokesman for the IDF acknowledged that the ongoing Israeli operation in Gaza, known as “Gideon’s Chariots,” will force “most of the population” to relocate.
On May 15, a UN spokesman stated that the U. N. will not take part in the GHF’s operations since it lacks independence, impartiality, and neutrality.
U.S. “N.”. Israel will not operate within the GHF’s aid sites, according to Ambassador Danny Danon, who urged the U. N. . to take part in the strategy.
ABC News asked Wood to confirm that the GHF had authorized the use of the three locations shown in satellite photos, but Wood did not immediately respond.
Lazzarini’s statement criticizing the plan was referred to by ABC News after UNRWA Communications Director Juliette Touma showed a satellite image of the likely aid construction sites.
Although it was challenging to determine the sites’ intended purpose, Andreas Krieg, a defense studies lecturer at King’s College London, examined the photos of the probable aid locations for ABC News and stated that the sites’ layout indicated both a humanitarian and military purpose.
The embankments that are presently being built more closely resemble military fortifications than they do humanitarian facilities. They may be used as temporary strongpoints, forward operating bases (FOBs), or just elevated watch towers, according to their design. It is still challenging to determine their intended function in the absence of clarity regarding their size and internal organization, Krieg stated.
He went on to say, “Many displaced civilians in Gaza will not be able to access them due to their location.”.
Analysts from the private intelligence company Maiar told ABC News that they did not observe any overt indications of militarization at the probable aid locations.
However, Maiar told ABC News, “there are no indications of armored fighting vehicles, defensive emplacements, or checkpoints/roadblocks within the immediate vicinity of the three sites, even though the construction sites are well ordered.”.
According to the firm’s analysts, “there are IDF related compounds close to the sites, but no obvious interactions seen between them,”.
Israeli aid coordinators for Gaza, the IDF and Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
