Palestinians wait for food donations at the distribution center in Beit Lahiya in the northern northern Gaza Strip on Sunday, March 16, 2025. Abdel Kareem Hana/AP Closed subtitles
Tel Aviv, Israel - The U.S. and Israel announced a plan ahead of President Trump’s visit to Arab allies in the Gulf, aid workers said they were driving a feverish hunger and allowing food and basic supplies to return to Gaza.
It's pressure from the Trump administration on Israel to allow aid to reintegrate into Gaza, a person familiar with the details who would not be named on conditions to discuss internal diplomacy.
According to a copy of the proposal reviewed by the NPR, the proposed solution initially provided food and assistance to only 60% of Gaza civilians. Key details are still unresolved, such as who will run or pay for it.
The plan was an earlier Israeli policy to refuse aid from putting pressure on Hamas to release Israeli hostages. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said Israel has been fully accompanied by the new proposal.
"President Trump has made it clear that one of the most urgent things is humanitarian assistance to Gaza, and he is tasked with the entire team to do everything possible to speed this up and to assist the people as soon as possible, to provide humanitarian assistance to the people."
Palestinians help Palestinian refugees on Tuesday, April 29, 2025 next to the closed humanitarian aid distribution center next to the United Nations Refugees who helped Palestinian refugees. Jehad Alshrafi/ap Closed subtitles
Israeli defense officials told reporters that Gaza's population would be forced to move south to obtain assistance in a new area blocked by Israeli troops to prevent Hamas members from entering.
According to the 14-page proposal reviewed by the NPR, a private charity recently registered in Switzerland called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation will establish four aid allocation sites and distribute pre-packaged food, sanitation kits and medical supplies.
Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar publicly acknowledged the U.S. plan on Sunday and called on state and aid groups to cooperate.
"This will enable aid to go directly to the people. Hamas must not be allowed to master it." Israeli soldiers "will not allocate aid. They will secure the periphery."
Israel said Hamas has used aid to seize supplies, profited from black market sales, and used aid distribution to assert its control over Gaza. UN officials said Gaza has no large-scale aid.
"The assistance we coordinated is provided to the people they intend to do," said Olga Cherevko of the Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the United Nations Office. "We already have mechanisms that can mitigate this situation, including monitoring during and after distribution, reporting incidents to donors and our accountability."
Israel said it will first wait for Trump's trip to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates this week to have a chance to have a ceasefire and hostage release with Hamas.
If no deal was reached then, Israel vowed to start launching the plan, coupled with intensified military ground operations and the capture of more territory at Gaza sites.
Palestinians will receive humanitarian assistance from UN agencies in Palestinian refugees in Jabalia, Gaza Strip on Wednesday, April 9, 2025. Jehad Alshrafi/ap Closed subtitles
According to the written proposal, four initial aid allocation sites will collectively provide 1.2 million Palestinians. This accounts for only 60% of Gaza's estimated 2.1 million Palestinians. Huckaby said aid allocation will be expanded to serve larger populations.
The major aid organizations working in Gaza refused to cooperate with the proposal, as Israeli officials suggested to the United Nations and its aid partners. Humanitarian groups say they cannot be with a plan that refuses any seeking aid, even the warriors.
"It violates the fundamental principles of humanitarian principles and appears to be aimed at strengthening control over life strategies, which is part of the military strategy," the United Nations and its aid partners said in a joint statement in Gaza. "We will not participate in any plans that do not comply with global humanitarian humanity, justice, independence and neutrality."
The U.S. said it is still negotiating with aid professionals to finalize who will run the program. Heckabee said he had no details on who would fund the program, but cited some contributors who wanted to remain unnamed.
Palestinians will help other humanitarian aid distributed by Palestinian refugees (United Nations agencies) at Jabaliya, Canada’s strip club, on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. Jehad Alshrafi/ap Closed subtitles
AIDS experts say the proposed U.S. Gaza aid program will be significantly different from the established non-leadership system, which has long been the cornerstone of humanitarian responses in conflict areas.
It will bypass the existing aid delivery system to replace the 400 UN distribution sites in Gaza with only about four distribution points, which experts say will overwhelm the system and make it difficult to ensure fair distribution to thousands of people.
This will promote Israeli plans to force Palestinians to move from the Egyptian border to Southern Gaza and ultimately plan to move Palestinians to Gaza. These are Israeli military strategies that humanitarian organizations do not want to endorse.
AIDS experts say that during the Iraq War, private security organizations provided assistance to civilians within the parameters of Iraqi troops, leading to moral problems.
"The idea of getting aid is very important, but how to provide it is equally important. This program is full of huge red flags."
NPR's Fatma Tanis reports Washington, D.C.