I noticed in the media this morning a return to blaming Israel for delays in aid distribution. Here are some pertinent facts that were NOT included.
In order to prevent the inclusion of arms and other contraband Israel requires all aid drivers picking up items coming through the crossings to register, and undergo a security check. Failure to do so was one of the major reasons for previous cases where the UN claimed Israel was holding up aid. The IDF wasn’t holding up aid. Drivers were refusing to register for security checks.
The UN cooperates with Hamas, allowing aid deliveries to be hijacked by Hamas once they leave areas under IDF control. Today, Inspectors found cigarettes mixed in with other aid packages. Cigarettes are NOT accepted aid items. The claims of Israeli delays appear to have been registered to mask the real reason for a brief delay.
The UN also encourages complaints about the US sponsored CHF aid distribution points. This is because those packages are never allowed to fall into the hands of Hamas, which is what happens when aid trucks got to UN “supervised” distribution points.
Air dropped aid packages are still being supplied with several countries participating in the effort. It is an extremely wasteful way to deliver aid, costing many times more per package than trucks.
There are also reports of surpluses of potatoes and similar staples being left to rot on the ground. Not the kind of behavior I would expect from a starving population. But, of course, the only photographic “evidence” that the media has been showing is provided by Hamas controlled journalists and photographers, like the one the IDF killed the other day because he was also holding down an extra job as a Hamas combat unit commander (and had apparently been doing so for several years).
Wetherhorn 