Washington, United States – The United States said Thursday that a new foundation will soon announce plans for aid to Gaza, sidelining the United Nations as Israel’s two-month blockade brings severe shortages to the war-battered territory.
“We welcome moves to quickly get urgent food aid into Gaza… in a way that the food aid actually gets to those to whom it’s intended,” Bruce told reporters.
“It cannot fall into the hands of terrorists such as Hamas.”
Israel has imposed a blockade for two months on Gaza, leading UN agencies and other humanitarian groups to warn of dwindling supplies of everything from fuel to medicine to the territory of 2.4 million Palestinians.
Israel denies a humanitarian crisis is unfolding and has vowed to ramp up pressure further on Hamas. The Israeli military has already leveled most of the territory’s buildings following militants’ unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Israel has long criticized involvement of the United Nations, seeing it as biased, and has banned work of the UN agency that supports Palestinian refugees.
Asked about the lack of a role for the United Nations, whose efforts have been impeded by Israel, Bruce said: “Endless press releases and Hamas appeasement have not delivered food, medicine or shelter to those who need it.”
US President Donald Trump has teased a major announcement before he heads on a tour next week of Gulf Arab monarchies.
Little is known for certain about the foundation, but a listing in Switzerland showed the establishment in February of the “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.”
Swiss newspaper Le Temps reported that the foundation was looking to hire “mercenaries” to work in the distribution of aid.
Amnesty International’s Swiss chapter voiced alarm, saying in a statement: “A foundation contributing to Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territory would be in violation of international law and fail to meet its responsibility to respect human rights.”
Israeli officials in recent days have spoken of a broader assault in Gaza, whose population has been almost entirely displaced by the military offensive.
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the territory will be “entirely destroyed.”
European governments, UN experts and China have voiced alarm over the Israeli plans. The Trump administration has held back on criticism and blamed Hamas for the situation.
Trump since taking office has stopped the vast majority of US international assistance.
Hamas met Gaza mediators this week but ‘no progress’
“Egyptian officials met twice with a high-level Hamas delegation led by (chief negotiator) Khalil al-Hayya (and) Qatari officials on Wednesday and Thursday in Doha,” one source told AFP.
A second source said the talks were “serious” but made “no concrete progress”.
Israel’s military resumed its offensive on the Gaza Strip on March 18, ending a two-month truce that saw a surge in aid into the war-ravaged territory and the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
Israel announced plans on Monday to expand its military campaign, drawing a chorus of international criticism.
Israel’s military has said the expanded operations approved by the security cabinet on Sunday would include displacing “most” of Gaza’s population.
An Israeli security source said there was still a “window of opportunity” for a hostage release deal to be struck to coincide with US President Donald Trump’s May 13 to 16 visit to the region.
But one of the sources close to Hamas told AFP Friday: “We do not expect an agreement to be concluded” by then.
The comment came after Hamas rejected an Israeli proposal for a 45-day truce with hostages to be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and a relaxation of the devastating aid blockade Israel imposed on Gaza on March 2.
Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim told AFP Wednesday that the group insisted on a “comprehensive agreement” to end the war.
Nearly all of Gaza’s 2.4 million people have been displaced at least once during the war, sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
The attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 52,760 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the United Nations regards as reliable.
