JERUSALEM: Israel would not be involved in food distribution under a US-led plan for the Gaza Strip but would provide “necessary military security”, Washington’s ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said on Friday.

Huckabee spoke to reporters in Jerusalem a day after the US State Department said a new foundation would lead the distribution of hum­anitarian aid in war-battered Gaza, where an over two-month-long Isra­eli blockade has caused severe shortages of everything from food and clean water to fuel and medicine.

“The Israelis are going to be involved in providing necessary military security, because it is a war zone, but they will not be involved in the distribution of food, or even in bringing food into Gaza,” the US ambassador said.

The US-led initiative has been met with international criticism as it appears to sideline the United Nations and existing aid organisations, and would overhaul current humanitarian structures in Gaza.

Humanitarian work in besieged Gaza Strip without UNRWA unimaginable, says UN

“We call upon the United Nations. We call upon every NGO. We call upon every government... We invite people who have been concerned about it to join in this process,” Huckabee said.

He expressed hope that the plan could be put into action “very soon”.

He offered no timetable for the aid operation or any further information about the non-governmental foundation that would be involved.

Huckabee, a vocal supporter of Israel, said there were “several partners who have already agreed to be a part of the effort”, without naming them.

UNRWA irreplaceable in Gaza

It is “very difficult” to imagine any operation to deliver humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza Strip without the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, a UNRWA spokeswoman said on Friday.

“It is impossible to replace UNRWA in a place like Gaza. We are the largest humanitarian organisation,” the agency’s spokeswoman Juliette Touma told a press conference in Geneva, when asked about that proposal.

Little is known for sure about the body proposed by the United States, but a listing in Switzerland showed the establishment of “Gaza Human­itarian Foundation” in February.

“We have the largest reach, whether it is through our teams that work across the Gaza Strip, where we have more than 10,000 people who work to deliver whatever is left of the supplies,” said Touma, speaking from Amman, Jordan.

She added, “We also manage shelters for the displaced families. It is very, very difficult to imagine any humanitarian operation without UNRWA.”

James Elder, spokesman for the UN children’s agency Unicef, said Israel’s plan would only increase the suffering of youngsters in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas-mediators talks

Meanwhile, a Hamas delegation held two meetings with Egyptian and Qatari mediators in Doha this week with no breakthrough in the search for a Gaza truce, sources close to the group said on Friday.

“Egyptian officials met a high-level Hamas delegation led by (chief negotiator) Khalil al-Hayya (and) Qatari officials twice on Wednesday and Thursday in Doha,” one source said.

A second source said the talks were “serious” but made “no concrete progress”.

Yemen’s missile

Israel’s military claimed it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen on Friday as journalists reported hearing explosions in Jerusalem area.

The Israeli military said “a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted” after air raid sirens sounded in several areas.

Yemen’s Houthis, in solidarity with Palestinians, have launched repeated attacks on Israel and on shipping in the Red Sea since shortly after the October 2023 start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza Strip.

Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2025