Israel is prepared to hold another humanitarian pause in Gaza to advance the release of more Gaza hostages, President Isaac Herzog told heads of foreign diplomatic missions at a briefing on Tuesday.
Herzog, joined in the briefing at the President’s Residence by COGAT’s Civil Department head, Col. Elad Goren, said that bureaucracy is stifling humanitarian aid to Gaza’s civilian population.
He said the number of trucks passing through daily could easily be tripled if bureaucratic differences with Israel’s partners could be resolved. Herzog added that he had personally inspected some of the products being sent into Gaza and found them lacking quality. He asked the ambassadors of all the countries that supply humanitarian aid to Gaza to ask their governments to improve the quality.
He also urged the ambassadors of countries that have been supportive of Israel to urge their governments to do more in appealing to Qatar to influence the immediate release of hostages.
There are still 129 hostages in Gaza from both Israel and other nations – primarily Thailand.
Thai ambassador Pannabha Chandraramya was almost in tears as she told The Jerusalem Post that she was praying for Thai nationals to be released before the New Year. There was no logic in keeping them captive, she said, because Thailand has no part in the Middle East conflict and has diplomatic relations with the Palestinian Authority.
Herzog emphasized that it is essential to bring home the hostages as soon as possible.
Referring to the video released by Hamas on Monday, in which it showed that some of the more senior hostages are still alive, Herzog noted that the hostages in question were aged 80 to 85, and the fact that they had not yet been released was further evidence of the sadistic approach of Hamas.
Herzog persisted in calling for the family of nations to impress upon Qatar the importance of releasing the hostages immediately. As for humanitarian aid, both Herzog and Goren stressed that Israel is not at war with Gaza. Israel is at war with Hamas.
Relating to the civilian population of Gaza, Herzog said: “They are not our enemies. Hamas is our enemy.” Israel is doing its utmost to evacuate Gaza’s civilian population from dangerous areas and to build shelters, he continued. This is often done at high risk to Israeli soldiers and civilians because once it is known that a particular area in Gaza will not be targeted by Israeli forces, Hamas moves in and fires rockets from there at Israel.
Herzog also spoke of the post-traumatic effect on some 230,000 Israelis who have been evacuated from their homes and have no idea when they will return.
Herzog: Israel doing everything to provide more aid to Gazans
Although Israel has been criticized on issues related to humanitarian aid for Gaza, Herzog insisted that Israel is doing everything possible to provide more humanitarian aid “because it’s the right thing to do.”
Moving into the hypothetical realm, Herzog said that everyone is talking about the day after because no one knows who will manage Gaza. “If there is a horizon of peace between Gaza, Israel, and the Palestinians, we have to think big and turn Gaza into a place of peace and not a place of war,” he said.
As he has done previously, Herzog explained that the war with Hamas is not just between Hamas and Israel. “This is a war between the forces of evil and the whole world order. It’s a war with major worldwide implications.”
Goren spoke about medical support, international coordination, and operational measures on the ground inside Gaza.
There is a humanitarian task force that monitors needs in Gaza, plus a medical response team that includes representatives of the United Nations and international agencies who meet on a daily basis, he said.
Endorsing Herzog’s comments about the possibility of increasing humanitarian aid, Goren said that 200 trucks are checked daily. “We can do better,” he declared. “We can have 359-400 trucks a day.”
This is not a sudden ambition. “At the beginning of the war, we understood that humanitarian aid is a vital issue,” said Goren. “Hamas doesn’t care about humanitarian aid. We are trying to increase the volume not just to Gaza, but in Gaza.”
Israel has been working with France and Italy to evacuate the sick and infirm and have them sent to French and Italian hospital ships.
The ships of other countries are in the pipeline, said Goren. There are also plans to put up field hospitals in Gaza, and in this respect, Israel is working together with the United Nations, the United States, and the Egyptians “to make sure we are all speaking the same language.”