Prime Minister Benjamin on Wednesday afternoon order the IDF to inspect the shipment of medications that would be transferred to Gaza for the Israeli hostages after he came under criticism for agreeing to the delivery sent from Qatar to enter the Strip free from inspection under the terms agreed with the Qataris and with France.
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"The prime minister was not involved in the security arrangements, that are under the purview of the military and defense establishments," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.
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Benjamin Netanyahu , medications
(Photo:Ronen Zvulun/ EPA, Ibraheem Abu Mustafa / Reuters )
According to the agreement, the medications would flown from Qatar to Egypt and delivered to the Hamas controlled Health Ministry by a Qatari envoy without an Israeli inspection.
Two Qatari planes arrived in El Arish in the north of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, where supplies were unloaded and transferred to the Rafah border crossing with Gaza about 28km (17 miles) away to the east, Egyptian security and Red Crescent officials said.
CNN reported on Sunday that according to the agreement, more than 40 abductees are to receive medication. The Gaza Health Ministry is supposed to find a solution to transfer the drugs to the hostages, through Hamas and without Red Cross involvement.
Mousa Abu Marzook, a member of the Hamas leadership said the terror group dictated the term of the agreement. For each box of medicine for the hostages, 1,000 boxes would be delivered by the Red Cross to hospitals in the Strip. "We are the ones who dictated the amount, the mediator and the delivery mechanism," he said.
Despite Netanyahu's attempt to claim he was not responsible for the details of the medication delivery, Minister Benny Gantz, a member of the war cabinet and the leader of the National Unity Party, said the political leadership is responsible for the delivery as well as the agreement that enables it.