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Some Israelis Question Whether Any Assistance Should Reach Gaza During the War
(New York Sun) Benny Avni - Under American pressure, Israel is increasingly raising the amount of humanitarian aid it allows into Gaza. Yet some Israelis doubt the wisdom of letting any assistance reach the Strip during a military campaign to dismantle Hamas' control of it. A former head of Israel's national security council, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Giora Eiland, told Israel's Channel 11 that, as a recent poll indicates, Hamas enjoys wide local support. "Once aid gets into Gaza, who distributes it?" Hamas decides what gets to civilians in need, and how much goes to its own fighters. If no aid gets in at all, Gazans would direct their anger at the terrorists who have ruled Gaza since 2007, Eiland said. In the initial hostage deal, he notes, Hamas insisted on aid deliveries. Now that more aid is coming in, its leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, has no incentive to release more hostages. Eiland insists that the more aid that is delivered, the longer the military campaign will last, delaying a post-Hamas humanitarian rehabilitation of Gaza.