Clarify Israeli role in Gaza aid funding, Ben-Gvir tells Netanyahu
"I strongly oppose transferring any aid to Gaza, at a time when our hostages are rotting in Hamas's tunnels, and our brave soldiers are manoeuvring in the Strip," he said.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir approached Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the weekend, demanding clarification regarding the funding of humanitarian aid to Gaza, including a NIS 700 million transfer in early May.
“I strongly oppose transferring any aid to Gaza at a time when our hostages are rotting in Hamas’s tunnels, and our brave soldiers are maneuvering in the Gaza Strip,” he reportedly told Netanyahu.
“But even by the logic of those who support transferring aid to the enclave, it is inconceivable that Israel would use its citizens’ – especially the residents of the Gaza border communities’ – taxes to fund food and supplies for a population that, on October 7, participated in the massacre and celebrated as our brothers and sisters were being slaughtered.”
Israel processed mysterious transaction worth millions to unknown source in May
A report from KAN News last week said the government transferred hundreds of millions of shekels earmarked for the distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza to the “security establishment,” processing these funds “under the radar” to hide the transaction from the public.Both the Prime Minister’s Office and the Finance Ministry denied KAN’s report.
Speculation concerning direct Israeli involvement in the financing, as well as possible US involvement, has also been raised recently, notably from the opposition.
Lapid has been questioning the source of Gaza's humanitarian aid funding
Opposition leader Yair Lapid has been questioning the source of Gaza’s humanitarian aid funding for a while.During a Knesset plenum debate, he asked whether Israel had secretly financed humanitarian aid to Gaza through two shell companies, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and the lesser-known Safe Reach Solutions.“If this money is indeed Israeli and the government is concealing it, this would not only be a deception of Israeli citizens, whose taxes fund it, but also one of the greatest diplomatic blunders in the country’s history,” Lapid said.