Israeli officials say they plan to trial the scheme when ‘the right people’ come forward
Israeli officials have said they want to use local administrators without links to either Hamas or the Palestinian Authority to run Gaza, and will set up small scale trials of the scheme as soon as “the right people step up to the plate”.
The controversial plan, which would see Israel retaining security control throughout Gaza, comes amid a deepening breakdown in public order in the devastated territory as convoys of aid are repeatedly looted and local communities form self-defence groups, some armed, to protect against thieves or help find food.
Earlier this week, the World Food Programme halted food deliveries to northern Gaza because of increasing chaos and renewed fighting. The agency has warned of catastrophic famine if aid does not reach people in need. UN secretary general, António Guterres, said that in north Gaza, one in six children under two years old is acutely malnourished.
The heads of 13 UN agencies and five other aid groups issued a joint plea for a ceasefire late on Wednesday, warning that a looming Israeli offensive on the southern city of Rafah would bring “mass casualties” and could “deal a death blow” to a humanitarian operation bringing aid to Palestinians that “is already on its knees”.
“Diseases are rampant. Famine is looming,” the plea said, adding that aid workers are facing “shelling, death, movement restrictions and a breakdown of civil order”.
The foreign ministers of 26 European countries on Thursday also called for a pause in fighting leading to a longer ceasefire. They urged Israel not to take military action in Rafah “that would worsen an already catastrophic humanitarian situation”.
Israel’s bombardment and ground offensive in Gaza has killed more than 29,400 people and wounded more than 69,000, Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Thursday. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count but has said that about two-thirds of the dead are women and children.
The war in Gaza was triggered when Hamas launched attacks into Israel on 7 October that killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in their homes and at a music festival. The militant organisation abducted 250 hostages, of whom about 100 were released in a swap for Palestinian prisoners during a week-long ceasefire in November.
