Photo by
Yoav Dudkevitch/TPS-IL on 19 May, 2025
Hostage Families Denounce Resumption of Gaza Aid
Jerusalem, 19 May, 2025 (TPS-IL) -- Families of the Israeli hostages denounced the resumption of humanitarian aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip on Monday.
“We want to see war as Israel knew how to conduct in its first thirty years. A war in which we want to decide, to conquer the territory, to capture it, to control the population until the enemy surrenders,” said Tzvika Mor, whose son, Eitan, then 23, was taken captive at the Nova Music Festival. “That’s what we want to see. This is the bottom line that ultimately matters to us here.”
Kiryat Arba Mayor Eliyahu Libman, whose son Elyakim was killed at the Nova festival on October 7, said Israel needed to make the hostages “a burden on Hamas.”
“We must not consider our enemies at the expense of the hostages … We need to cause hunger in Gaza, so they have nothing, so they will want to return all our hostages to us as quickly as possible in one phase, in one bus. That’s what the people of Israel want,” Libman insisted.
But Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a longtime opponent of aid, defended the Cabinet’s decision to allow the aid.
“No aid will reach Hamas. Period. Anyone who says otherwise is simply lying,” Smotrich said at a press conference in Jerusalem on Monday.
“It will allow civilians to eat, our friends around the world to continue providing us with an international protection umbrella at the Security Council and The Hague, and us to keep fighting, God willing, until victory. For two and a half months, we did not allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, creating enormous pressure on Hamas — and rightly so. But pressure must be managed so it doesn’t explode on us,” Smotrich said.
Israel suspended aid deliveries at the beginning of March after Hamas rejected a proposal by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff to extend the ceasefire through the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish Passover holiday.
According to a statement from Netanyahu’s office, Israel will allow a minimal amount of food into Gaza while taking steps to prevent Hamas from seizing the aid. “Israel will act to deny Hamas’s ability to take control of the distribution of humanitarian assistance,” the statement said.
The decision coincides with preparations by the newly formed, U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to begin aid operations in the Strip by month’s end. The initiative—supported by private American firms and endorsed by Israel—aims to establish a secure framework for aid distribution.
Until GHF’s infrastructure is ready, the foundation has requested Israel allow international organizations to resume deliveries under existing procedures.
Under the plan, humanitarian goods will be routed to secure distribution centers in southern Gaza, overseen by the Israeli military. From there, supplies will be handed over to aid agencies. GHF is partnering with UG Solutions for security and Safe Reach Solutions for logistics.
Hamas has managed to enrich itself by charging a “tax” of approximately $7,000 per truck entering Gaza. The terror group also hijacks deliveries of donated food, water, blankets, medical supplies, fuel, and other items, then re-sells them through a system of vouchers as reported by The Press Service of Israel in March. At one point, 85% of all trucks entering the Strip were hijacked.
At least 1,180 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 58 remaining hostages, 36 are believed to be dead.
