Israel halts aid deliveries into Gaza after evidence Hamas seized aid & Smotrich threatens to quit gov't

The Israeli government has decided to halt the flow of humanitarian aid trucks into Gaza after videos surfaced in the last few days of Hamas fighters commandeering aid trucks. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a joint statement late Wednesday night, saying,

“Following information received today that Hamas is once again taking control of the humanitarian aid entering the northern Gaza Strip and stealing it from civilians, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense instructed the IDF to present within 48 hours an action plan to prevent Hamas from taking control of the aid,”  the statement said. 

The joint statement by Netanyahu and Katz was released following a post to 𝕏 by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, showing a video of Hamas fighters commandeering aid trucks entering the northern Gaza Strip. 

הסרטון הזה צולם היום. רואים בו חמושים של החמאס שהשתלטו שוב על משאיות מזון שממשלת ישראל הכניסה לרצועה.

לוחמים בשטח הסבירו לי שאלו ההוראות כיום, להכניס משאיות בלי בקרה.

ככה ממשיכים להזין את חמאס בכסף ובכוח.

שרי הממשלה התחייבו ש״אף גרגר לא ייכנס״ וכרגיל המציאות הפוכה.

מביש. pic.twitter.com/Sj5Wozwgb8

— Naftali Bennett נפתלי בנט (@naftalibennett) June 25, 2025

“This video was filmed today,” Bennett wrote. “It shows Hamas gunmen who have once again taken control of food trucks that the Israeli government allowed into the Strip.” 

He claimed that the government had ordered the trucks to enter “without inspection.” 

“This is how they continue to fuel Hamas with money and power,” Bennett continued. “Government ministers promised that ‘not a single grain will enter,’ and as usual, reality is the opposite. Shameful.” 

According to a report in Channel 12 news, the flow of aid to the Gaza Strip has been halted until the IDF presents the requested plan. The news outlet also said that shortly before the statement by Netanyahu and Katz, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich gave Netanyahu an ultimatum: Immediately stop aid to Hamas – otherwise he would not remain in the government. 

A little over a month ago, the Prime Minister Netanyahu approved the resumption of aid trucks into northern Gaza alongside the GHF distribution in the southern Strip. This was reportedly opposed by most of the cabinet. 

At the time, the Prime Minister's Office said that “Israel will introduce a basic amount of food to the population in order to ensure that a hunger crisis does not develop in the Gaza Strip.” It also claimed that “Israel will work to deny Hamas's ability to take control of the distribution of humanitarian aid in order to ensure that the aid does not reach Hamas terrorists.” 

Army Radio's military correspondent Doron Kadosh reported on Thursday morning that the new aid distribution mechanism, which is being deployed in Rafah and in one location in the Netzarim Corridor, where the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distributes aid packages directly to Palestinians who arrive at secure aid distribution sites, has not been implemented in the northern Gaza Strip. 

Kadosh said that aid distribution in the northern Strip is being handled as it was in the past, with aid trucks entering the Strip under the oversight of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), where they are to be driven to UN aid warehouses. 

“Hamas easily takes control of these trucks as it has done since the beginning of the war,” Kadosh noted. 

Kadosh also confirmed what has been reported by several Hebrew news sites, that the aid distribution sites run by GHF are not being implemented according to the plan previously presented to the government.

Specifically, Kadosh reported that the sites “do not have an organized registration as promised,” and they also do not have the promised security check mechanism to prevent Hamas members from arriving in civilian clothes and taking boxes of aid for the terror group.