Israel is delaying the transfer of large quantities of flour to the Gaza Strip at the behest of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and in coordination with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The decision to delay sending large quantities of flour to Gaza was made to prevent the flour from reaching UNRWA, which is supposed to distribute it to the residents of Gaza. According to Smotrich, UNRWA is part of the Hamas war machine - and the transfer of flour to it means flour to the terrorist organization.
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The finance minister took advantage of the fact that the IDF, at the behest of the political echelon, is promoting other alternatives for the distribution of humanitarian aid and asked to recalculate the route of the flour waiting at customs and addressed to the relief organization. Benny Gantz also supports a significant reduction in aid as long as Hamas succeeds in getting his hands on a large part of it. Senior government officials, including the prime minister, recently spoke out against UNRWA and demanded that the agency not be part of the Gaza Strip the day after the war.
According to sources familiar with the details, the decision was made in coordination between Smotrich and Netanyahu. From the moment it became clear that the shipments were destined for UNRWA, they were delayed, and now they are waiting for an alternative solution so that they reach the residents of Gaza and not Hamas.
Just three days ago, the IDF revealed that a Hamas server farm was located in a tunnel under UNRWA's central headquarters in the Gaza Strip, and this was added to the trove of evidence on the connection between the UN refugee agency and Hamas. UNRWA's commissioner-general, Philippe Lazzarini, in a post on the X platform, referred to the findings, denying that UNRWA knew what was under its headquarters in Gaza.
Recently, it was also revealed that 12 UNRWA employees took part in the massacre on October 7 and, according to the intelligence information in Israel's possession, some of them also murdered and kidnapped Israelis. Nine of the employees were fired, and according to the UN, and at least one is dead. It was also revealed that one out of 10 UNRWA personnel has a connection to terrorism. Following the suspicions, several countries, including the U.S., Germany, Great Britain, Canada and Italy, decided to stop funding UNRWA.