Finance Minister and Religious Zionism party leader Bezalel Smotrich said today (Monday) that IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi bears responsibility for Hamas still being alive and in charge of the Gaza Strip.
In a statement recorded by the Knesset channel, Smotrich said that "Hamas made a billion dollars from the humanitarian aid in 15 months. The Chief of Staff bears personal responsibility for this matter: systematically, he physically blocked the taking of responsibility for the humanitarian aid - he is responsible for it reaching Hamas, lengthening the war and preserving its rule."
The clash over who should handle humanitarian aid being sent into the Gaza Strip has been a long standing debate between members of the government, the IDF, and the humanitarian NGOs distributing the aid in the Gaza Strip.
The latter have often refused to agree to receive aid managed by the IDF on the grounds it would violate their neutrality, while making no mention of the fact that the governing body distributing the aid, and which often steals it, is Hamas, a belligerent in the war.
Meanwhile the IDF has consistently assigned responsibility to handling aid to the same humanitarian agencies, and has refused to take over and protect aid trucks to protect soldiers and preserve precious manpower.
Meanwhile, a number of members of the government and even some in the opposition such as Yisrael Beytenu leader MK Avigdor Liberman have argued that Israel - despite intense pressure from the world and especially the United States - needs to stop allowing so much aid in, as they argue it is far beyond what Gazans need and that Hamas is staying financially afloat by seizing and reselling much of it.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly gave Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich "partial" control over future humanitarian aid as a condition of his future support for the government.
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