New humanitarian plan for Gaza: how Israel and the U.S. are trying to bypass Hamas and UNRWA

As the humanitarian crisis in Gaza deepens, Israel and the United States have introduced a new distribution strategy for aid trucks. The core objective? Ensure that food and supplies reach Gaza’s civilians - not Hamas. This marks a dramatic shift in how international assistance is managed, moving away from channels like UNRWA, and toward a more direct, controlled delivery system.

Humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

Why was UNRWA excluded?

The decision to exclude UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) stems from serious accusations: that Hamas has used its resources to support terror infrastructure. Israeli and American officials know that allowing UNRWA to handle aid could mean supplies fall into the hands of militants, rather than civilians.

Moreover, food and construction materials have allegedly been used in the past to build Hamas’ underground tunnel network - a key part of its military strategy. These tunnels, while often compared to Hezbollah’s rock-solid ones in Lebanon, are quite different. In Gaza’s sandy soil, tunnels collapse easily unless reinforced with solid supports - materials that can come from humanitarian aid.

A new map of aid distribution

The current plan, jointly developed by Israel and the U.S., sets up a new logistical map to direct humanitarian aid into Gaza. The aim is to skip the Hamas-controlled and UNRWA-run strongholds and instead target zones where aid can be distributed directly to civilians. The distribution is now supervised by private contractors and NGOs, under strict Israeli and American oversight, to ensure that food doesn’t end up fueling Hamas' war machine.

Every day, this system is being monitored and fine-tuned. The big question: can aid really reach the right people without being stolen, looted, or politicized?

The reality on the ground

While the new aid plan aims to bypass Hamas, history seems to be repeating. As soon as the trucks cross into Gaza, Hamas often seizes control - redirecting the goods for its own purposes.

Much of the food and supplies never make it to ordinary civilians. Instead:

• Hamas militants intercept the aid, using a portion for their own forces or to reinforce their tunnel infrastructure.

• Other portions are resold on the black market at inflated prices, taking advantage of the desperation of ordinary Gazans who can’t access basic necessities otherwise.

• Reports suggest that entire convoys have been looted or redirected within minutes of entering the Strip, raising serious doubts about the effectiveness of even the new distribution map.

In many cases, this has created a parallel economy inside Gaza - one controlled entirely by Hamas, where international aid becomes a bargaining chip, a war resource, or a profit engine.

A test of policy and principles

This new distribution system is more than a logistical experiment - it’s a political and ethical stress test. Supporters argue it’s finally a way to get aid to the people who need it, without empowering terror. Critics say it sets a dangerous precedent: that humanitarian aid can be used as a weapon of war or a tool of foreign policy.

But in the absence of trust in UNRWA, and with Hamas known to exploit food and materials for terror purposes, Israel and the U.S. have chosen what they see as the lesser bad: direct, closely monitored delivery, with the hope that something is better than nothing.