Israel halts aid into Gaza, official says, clans deny Hamas is stealing it
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Short-lived relief for Gaza as Israel bristles at aid entering north
aid lorries entered northern Gaza on Wednesday and ‘Hamas had no role in the security arrangements’, tribal leader says. Photos showed armed clan members sitting on board the aid lOrries. Israeli accusations that Hamas had seized control of the operation – claims categorically denied by those on the ground. Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has no presence in northern Gaza. It only operates up to the Netzarim Corridor, which roughly separates the top third of the strip from the rest of Gaza. The GHF says aid is still being delivered at its distribution points. The distribution process, according to the tribal leaders, is now in the hands of internationally recognised organisations. The amount of aid that entered Gaza “is barely a drop in the ocean of immense needs”, tribal leader Mukhtar Salman Al Mughani says. He calls for the establishment of a secure humanitarian corridor to enable sustained and safe delivery of assistance to Gaza’s devastated population. Some Gazans received their first parcel in four months.
A few dozen aid lorries entered northern Gaza on Wednesday and “Hamas had no role in the security arrangements”, Mukhtar Salman Al Mughani, a senior tribal leader and member of the Higher Committee for Tribal Affairs, told The National.
Some Gazans received their first parcel in four months. The head of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, separately announced on Thursday that it had delivered its first medical supplies into Gaza since early March, including reserves of blood and plasma.
The aid in the north “entered through full co-ordination between tribal leaders and international entities,” Mr Al Mughani said. Photos showed armed clan members sitting on board the aid lorries. The delivery was quickly followed by Israeli accusations that Hamas had seized control of the operation – claims categorically denied by those on the ground.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz issued a joint statement saying they had instructed the military “to present within 48 hours an operational plan to prevent Hamas from taking over the aid”.
Israeli network Channel 12 reported that aid deliveries had stopped and would not resume until such a plan was presented. It said the joint statement came after far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened to quit the government.
Tribal leaders said an aid delivery in the north of Gaza had nothing to do with Hamas. Reuters
“The Israeli army is seeking to entrench chaos in the strip by obstructing aid efforts,” Amjad Al Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGO Network in Gaza, told The National. “The success achieved yesterday in northern Gaza is a scene they do not want to see at all. That’s why we saw the defamatory statement claiming that Hamas is controlling the aid.”
Mr Al Shawa said 45 aid lorries arrived in the north and that distribution began on Thursday, based on pre-approved lists of beneficiaries. He called for the establishment of a secure humanitarian corridor to enable sustained and safe delivery of assistance to Gaza’s devastated population.
Northern Gaza receives aid via UN humanitarian organisations and the Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has no presence there. The GHF, whose distribution points have been the scene of killings by Israeli forces, as well as stampedes and degrading conditions, only operates up to the Netzarim Corridor, which roughly separates the top third of the strip from the rest of Gaza. It says aid is still being delivered at its distribution points.
Mr Al Mughani said Israel “is simply looking for an excuse to halt the entry of aid”. He said tribal leaders took full responsibility for organising and securing the aid convoys and ensuring their delivery to designated warehouses.
He dismissed the Israeli narrative as “false and completely baseless”. The amount of aid that entered Gaza “is barely a drop in the ocean of immense needs”, he said. “These lies aim to incite discord and prevent starving civilians from receiving even the most basic relief.”
Aid distribution by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has been marred by violence and harrowing scenes. AFP
The distribution process, according to the tribal leaders, is now in the hands of internationally recognised organisations. “Our role was to secure the delivery and ensure it reached the people safely,” said Akef Al Masri, commissioner general of the Tribal Affairs Authority. “We affirm that the distribution is being carried out by relevant international and local institutions in accordance with global standards,”
Mr Al Masri also criticised Israel’s continued refusal to allow UN agency UNRWA to participate in the relief effort, calling it a “blatant attempt to eliminate its presence” in Gaza. He said tribal authorities stand ready to support and protect UNRWA’s operations.
For everyday Gazans, the resumption of aid, however small, has brought a moment of hope.
“I’m a widow with six children. None of them can go out or earn money. We’ve been suffering in silence,” Sawsan Hameed, 43, from the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, told The National “This morning, I finally got a message from the World Food Programme asking me to come and collect a parcel. It was the first message I received in four months.”
The parcel contained basic food items – things her family could no longer afford in Gaza’s economic spiral and amid skyrocketing market prices. “We were overjoyed,” she said. “And it only happened because the tribal leaders managed to secure the aid and bring it safely.”
She, like many others, hopes this new mechanism continues. “We just want a dignified life, and for the aid to keep flowing. The occupation must be pressured to stop blocking it.”
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Israel Halts Humanitarian Aid to Gaza Until Plan Formed to Stop Hamas Theft
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have ordered the IDF to come up with a plan, within 48 hours, to prevent the Hamas terrorist organization from stealing humanitarian aid in Gaza. The move follows a threat by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to pull out of the government coalition if Israel does not take action to stop aid from reaching Hamas. In the meantime, humanitarian aid deliveries to the enclave – at least those brought in by international aid organizations other than the US-run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) — have been halted, according to a report by Israel’s Channel 12 News. The GHF, an American initiative, began providing weekly food boxes for Gaza”s civilian families last month, bypassing Hamas.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have ordered the IDF to come up with a plan, within 48 hours, to prevent the Hamas terrorist organization from stealing humanitarian aid in Gaza.
“Following intelligence received today indicating that Hamas is once again seizing humanitarian aid entering northern Gaza and stealing it from civilians, the Prime Minister and Defense Minister have instructed the IDF to present within 48 hours an action plan to prevent Hamas from taking over the aid,” the two leaders said in a statement released early Thursday.
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In the meantime, humanitarian aid deliveries to the enclave – at least those brought in by international aid organizations other than the US-run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) — have been halted, according to a report by Israel’s Channel 12 News.
GHF, an American initiative, began providing weekly food boxes for Gaza’s civilian families last month, bypassing Hamas. The project has been very successful despite intensive Hamas efforts to block Gazans from reaching the distribution points and accessing the aid.
The move follows a threat by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to pull out of the government coalition if Israel does not take action to stop aid from reaching Hamas. “A country that succeeded in subduing Iran knows how to do the same in Gaza!” Smotrich declared in a post on the X social media platform.
Earlier this week (June 23-24), 150 humanitarian aid trucks carrying food, baby food and formula, medical supplies and medications, were transferred to northern Gaza via the Zikim Crossing, and to southern Gaza via the Kerem Shalom Crossing, according to the IDF Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).
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150 humanitarian aid trucks carrying food, baby food and formula, medical supplies and medications, were transferred to the northern Gaza Strip via the Zikim Crossing and to the southern Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom Crossing over the last two days (June 23-24).… pic.twitter.com/LxfBEKow8r — COGAT (@cogatonline) June 25, 2025
However, aid distribution points in Gaza City are fully controlled by Hamas, according to the Abu Ali Express news outlet.
“The aid reportedly ‘arrived safely’ at warehouses within Gaza City (specifically, in a hangar belonging to the ‘ANERA’ organization). Hamas militants have firm control over Gaza City itself,” Abu Ali writes.
“Using a large number of ‘convoy security guards’ without visible Hamas insignia and branded as “clan members” – who appear to be a civilian presence (but are in fact Hamas operatives/loyalists) – the convoys entered directly into an area fully controlled by Hamas,” he adds.
It’s important to note that are no American GHF-controlled food distribution points in northern Gaza, due to efforts to persuade civilians to move south, out of harm’s way.
There are four GHF aid distribution points further south: three in Khan Younis and one in an area south of Gaza City, along the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza.
Aid deliveries to Gaza are to remain suspended until the plan to stop theft by Hamas is presented to the government.
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As Canada resists cutbacks, Ottawa’s foreign aid chief eyes red tape, visibility
Randeep Sarai is secretary of state for international development. He says Canada must take a more efficient, more visible approach to development and humanitarian assistance. Sarai said his top priorities are to ensure Canadian aid dollars are being spent efficiently and to give Canadians and aid recipients a better idea of where the money goes. Canada spent $12 billion on foreign aid in the fiscal year that ended in spring 2024, the latest year fully reported by Global Affairs Canada. The department has said it’s trying to give clearer guidance so that it can keep preventing aid from being misused while allowing Canadian organizations to expand their reach by partnering with smaller, grassroots groups. The U.S. has been cutting back on development work in Afghanistan since the Taliban retook the country in August 2021, aid groups have criticized Ottawa for drastically cutting back in Afghanistan. The United States has placed thousands of staff at the U.N. International Development Agency on leave and froze payments and shipments of aid to non-profit groups around the world.
The MP overseeing foreign aid says Canada must take a more efficient, more visible approach to development and humanitarian assistance to make the case for maintaining aid spending as the United States pulls back.
“Those that are staying the course need to be more nimble and need to be more versatile,” said Randeep Sarai, secretary of state for international development, in his first major interview since taking on the role.
Sarai said his top priorities in the job are to ensure Canadian aid dollars are being spent efficiently and to give Canadians and aid recipients a better idea of where the money goes.
“It doesn’t mean that a sack of grain needs to have a Maple Leaf on it,” he said. While branding can play a role, Sarai said, the government can also spread its message through social media, outreach campaigns in recipient countries and possibly through provincial government-approved textbooks.
“Canadians would be happier, and I think those recipients would have a better value and respect and admiration for Canada and its aid,” he said. “So that’s definitely a priority.”
Canadian aid agencies seeking boost in foreign aid after Liberal campaign largely ignored the issue
Sarai said Canadians should know how their aid dollars work to, for example, flood-proof areas prone to natural disasters or provide farmers with climate-resilient crops.
“A potato seed that comes from Prince Edward Island to a remote part of the Philippines can take a family from barely sustaining themselves to being able to not only feed themselves but also put their children through education,” he said.
Sarai worked as a lawyer in Surrey, B.C. before running for federal office in the 2015 election, when the Liberals under Justin Trudeau won a majority government. He became parliamentary secretary for veterans affairs in fall 2023.
While his current role falls short of a full ministerial portfolio, it puts him in charge of overseeing Canada’s aid budget and allows him to participate in some cabinet meetings.
Ottawa spent $12 billion on foreign aid in the fiscal year that ended in spring 2024, the latest year fully reported by Global Affairs Canada.
Half of that was core foreign aid spending, while $2.6 billion was for loans and development financing, mostly for Ukraine. Another $2.6 billion went to services for refugees arriving in Canada, while the rest largely went to global projects such as United Nations humanitarian appeals and preventive health projects.
Opinion: Canada can lead efforts to reform foreign aid that neither cuts nor continues the status quo
Sarai said knocking on doors during the spring election campaign convinced him that few Canadians know where their aid dollars are going.
“That’s what my priority is – how can I communicate and share that. And how can I get the best bang for your buck, the most efficient way to get our aid to those that are most in need,” he said.
Sarai said Prime Minister Mark Carney told him “to cut some red tape” and proceed with Global Affairs Canada’s ongoing reform of the bureaucracy it uses to fund development and humanitarian projects.
Charities have long claimed that Canada’s aid system is more cumbersome than those of its peers, with copious paperwork requirements that delay grants and freeze out smaller aid groups.
The department has said it’s trying to give clearer guidance so that it can keep preventing aid from being misused while allowing Canadian organizations to expand their reach by partnering with smaller, grassroots groups.
Aid groups have criticized Ottawa for drastically cutting back on development work in Afghanistan since the Taliban retook the country in August 2021.
Several of Canada’s allies have issued blanket exemptions to terrorism-financing rules to allow development workers to pay local staff without being accused of funding terrorism through the Taliban’s taxes on salaries.
Ottawa has instead opted for a complex permitting system that has been widely criticized.
Canadian aid workers warn ‘catastrophic’ USAID halt puts Ottawa’s projects in limbo
Sarai said the broader reforms his department is undertaking will ensure Canadian organizations can access the funding Ottawa allocates for projects abroad.
Canadian non-profits have been bracing for worse since the United States started slashing its aid budget.
On behalf of U.S. President Donald Trump, billionaire Elon Musk placed thousands of staff at the U.S. Agency for International Development on paid leave and froze payments and shipments of aid around the world.
Canadian non-profits say that many of their projects ran off systems operated by USAID or UN agencies that relied on significant U.S. funding.
The aid sector has been further demoralized by the outcome of the recent G7 summit, which Canada hosted. World leaders at the summit made no major joint spending commitment to help populations facing conflict and hunger in places like Sudan, Myanmar and the Palestinian territories.
Canada promised at the G7 to spend $391.3 million “to catalyze private capital toward economic growth and development projects around the world.” Ottawa hasn’t said yet where and when the funding will be used.
The federal government also said it earmarked “up to $544 million” in loans for “new development financing in Latin America and the Caribbean.”
During the spring election, Carney said he would not follow the example of the U.S. or some European countries by cutting back aid. He said Canada’s approach is “to be generous and to be effective in our support of those who are most vulnerable around the world.”
Sarai said Carney’s decision to maintain aid recognizes that diseases don’t respect borders, that hunger and poverty lead to waves of to refugees, and that countries receiving Canadian aid are more open to Canadian trade.
He said Carney’s message is likely that Canadian aid needs “to be more nimble, be more creative, so we can do more with the same amount of dollars.” The government still hasn’t released a budget indicating whether the flow of aid will remain steady or see an increase or decrease.
Sarai is in Brussels this week for a pledging summit with GAVI, the global vaccine alliance. Ottawa did not announce new funding for the alliance at the summit. He then heads to Spain for a UN conference on development financing with private and civil society.
He expects to take part next month in the G20 meeting of development ministers in South Africa, and possibly a summit in the Solomon Islands focused on adaptation to climate change.
Sarai said his talks with ambassadors in Ottawa and visiting dignitaries have left him surprised at the depth and scope of Canada’s international reputation for multilateralism.
“The world still sees Canada as in a very good light. We don’t have a history that is colonializing other countries,” he said.
“We have played important roles before, and we should continue to to play those roles.”
Israel halts aid into Gaza, official says, as clans deny Hamas is stealing it
Israel halts aid into Gaza, official says, as clans deny Hamas is stealing it. Images circulated of masked men on aid trucks, who clan leaders said were protecting the aid, not diverting it to the militants. Israel accuses Hamas of stealing aid for its own fighters or to sell to finance its operations. Hamas denies any involvement in the aid delivery operation in the Gaza Strip after nearly two years of war with Israel. Palestinians are suffering an acute shortage of basic supplies after the nearly two-year military campaign by Israel that has displaced most of Gaza’s two million inhabitants. Israel launched a military campaign that killed more than 56,000 people, according to local health authorities, including 118 Palestinians shot near an aid distribution point in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on June 25. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the military to present a plan within two days to prevent Hamas from taking control of aid. The United Nations source said that all aid that was due to enter northern Gaza had been put on hold.
Israel halts aid into Gaza, official says, as clans deny Hamas is stealing it
– Israel has halted aid supplies to Gaza for two days to prevent them from being seized by Hamas, an official said on June 26, after images circulated of masked men on aid trucks, who clan leaders said were protecting the aid, not diverting it to the militants.
Israeli government spokesman David Mencer later told reporters that aid was still entering Gaza from the south but did not specify whether any supplies were entering the north.
A United Nations source said that all aid that was due to enter northern Gaza had been put on hold.
Lorries carrying aid supplies often enter Gaza in the evening.
Reuters could not immediately confirm if that would happen on June 26 and 27.
A representative for the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a joint statement with Defence Minister Israel Katz, said late on June 25 that he had ordered the military to present a plan within two days to prevent Hamas from taking control of aid.
They cited new information indicating that Hamas was seizing aid intended for civilians in northern Gaza.
A video circulating on June 25 showed dozens of masked men, some armed with rifles but most carrying sticks, riding on aid trucks.
An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that aid deliveries had been temporarily suspended for two days to allow the military time to develop a new plan.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli prime minister’s office, the Defence Ministry or the Israeli military.
The Higher Commission for Tribal Affairs, which represents influential clans in the territory, said that trucks had been protected as part of an aid security process managed “solely through tribal efforts”.
The commission said that no Palestinian faction – a reference to Hamas – had taken part in the process.
Hamas, the militant group that has ruled Gaza for more than two decades but now controls only parts of the territory after nearly two years of war with Israel, denied any involvement.
Throughout the war, numerous clans, civil society groups and factions – including Hamas’ secular political rival Fatah – have stepped in to help provide security for the aid convoys.
Clans made up of extended families connected through blood and marriage have long been a fundamental part of Gazan society.
Acute shortage
Mr Amjad al-Shawa, director of an umbrella body for Palestinian non-governmental organisations, said the aid protected by clans on June 25 was being distributed to vulnerable families.
There is an acute shortage of food and other basic supplies after the nearly two-year military campaign by Israel that has displaced most of Gaza’s two million inhabitants.
Aid trucks and warehouses storing supplies have often been looted, frequently by desperate and starving Palestinians.
Israel accuses Hamas of stealing aid for its own fighters or to sell to finance its operations, an accusation Hamas denies.
“The clans came… to form a stance to prevent the aggressors and the thieves from stealing the food that belongs to our people,” said Mr Abu Salman Al Moghani, a representative of Gazan clans, referring to June 25’s operation.
The June 25 video was shared on social media platform X by former prime minister Naftali Bennett, who claimed that Hamas had taken control of aid allowed into Gaza by the Israeli government.
Mr Bennett is widely seen as the most viable challenger to Mr Netanyahu at the next election.
Mr Netanyahu has also faced pressure from within his right-wing coalition, with some hardline members threatening to quit over ceasefire negotiations and the delivery of humanitarian aid.
The war began when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on Oct 7, 2023, killing nearly 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 others hostage into Gaza.
In response, Israel launched a military campaign that has killed more than 56,000 people, the majority of them civilians, according to local health authorities in Gaza.
At least 118 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire since June 25, the local health authorities said, including some shot near an aid distribution point, the latest in a series of such incidents.
Twenty hostages remain in captivity in Gaza, while Hamas is also holding the bodies of 30 who have died. REUTERS
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US strikes may have set back Iran nuclear program only months, sources say
Preliminary U.S. intelligence assessment finds Iran could restart its nuclear program in a matter of months. The assessment is at odds with the statements of President Donald Trump and high-ranking officials. The Pentagon disputed the notion that the damage was insignificant, though it did not dispute that the DIA assessment exists. Trump has said the attacks were necessary to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. Iran denies it is seeking such a weapon and says its nuclearProgram is for peaceful purposes.. The White House pointed to a statement by a spokesperson Karoline Leavitt to CNN, which first reported the assessment, that the “alleged” conclusion was “flat-out wrong” The assessment was not universally accepted and had generated significant disagreement, one source said. A more refined report was expected in the coming days and weeks, according to a U.s. official who read the assessment and said it contained a number of caveats and “ifs” and said a more refinedReport was expected.
Damage assessments can change as more information comes to light
Agency one of many tasked with assessing success of US strikes
WASHINGTON, June 24 (Reuters) – A preliminary U.S. intelligence assessment has determined that U.S. strikes over the weekend on Iranian nuclear facilities have set back Tehran’s program by only a matter of months, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The initial report was prepared by the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon’s main intelligence arm and one of 18 U.S. intelligence agencies, said two of the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss classified matters.
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The assessment found that Iran could restart its nuclear program in a matter of months, according to the three sources, one of whom said it estimated the earliest restart could be in one to two months.
The classified assessment is at odds with the statements of President Donald Trump and high-ranking U.S. officials – including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. They have said the weekend strikes, which used a combination of bunker-busting bombs and more conventional weapons, essentially eliminated Iran’s nuclear program.
Trump’s administration on Tuesday told the U.N Security Council that its weekend strikes had “degraded” Iran’s nuclear program, short of Trump’s earlier assertion that the facilities had been “obliterated.”
Asked for comment, the White House pointed to a statement by spokesperson Karoline Leavitt to CNN, which first reported the assessment, that the “alleged” conclusion was “flat-out wrong.”
“Everyone knows what happens when you drop fourteen 30,000 pound bombs perfectly on their targets: total obliteration,” she said.
A U.S. official who read the assessment noted that it contained a number of caveats and “ifs” and said a more refined report was expected in the coming days and weeks.
Analysts said that, if the assessment was based on satellite imagery, the extent of damage to the deeply buried Fordow uranium enrichment facility would not necessarily be revealed.
Trump has said the attacks were necessary to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. Iran denies it is seeking such a weapon and says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
Assessing the damage at the Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz nuclear sites is expected to be a difficult task, and the DIA is not the only agency tasked with the job. One source said the assessment was not universally accepted and had generated significant disagreement.
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. did not yet know the true extent of the damage.
Still, the initial assessment indicated the strikes may not have been nearly as successful as the Trump administration has claimed.
HEGSETH REITERATES STANCE
Item 1 of 4 A satellite image shows new airstrike craters on the perimeter of the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Facility, amid the Iran-Israel conflict, near Qom, Iran, June 24, 2025. Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS [1/4] A satellite image shows new airstrike craters on the perimeter of the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Facility, amid the Iran-Israel conflict, near Qom, Iran, June 24, 2025. Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab
The sources said that the report found that the U.S. attack had caved in facility entrances and destroyed or damaged infrastructure. However, one added, the strike did not collapse underground buildings.
Restarting operations would basically depend on “how long it takes them to dig out and build or repair” power and water supply facilities, said the second source.
The Washington Post, citing a person familiar the report, said some centrifuges for enriching uranium were intact.
The Pentagon disputed the notion that the damage was insignificant, though it did not dispute that the DIA assessment exists.
“Based on everything we have seen — and I’ve seen it all — our bombing campaign obliterated Iran’s ability to create nuclear weapons,” Hegseth said in a statement to Reuters.
“Our massive bombs hit exactly the right spot at each target—and worked perfectly. The impact of those bombs is buried under a mountain of rubble in Iran; so anyone who says the bombs were not devastating is just trying to undermine the President and the successful mission.”
One source, however, said Iran’s enriched uranium stocks had not been eliminated.
David Albright, a former U.N. nuclear inspector, said that based on post-strike commercial satellite imagery, he believed the U.S. attack effectively destroyed Iran’s uranium enrichment program for now, but failed to eliminate the longer-term threat.
“Iran retains an ability to break out and produce weapon-grade uranium,” said Albright, the head of the Institute for Science and International Security, in a post on X.
He noted that Iran’s stock of near-weapons grade highly enriched uranium – enough for about nine warheads – is unaccounted for as are advanced centrifuges for a new enrichment facility that Iran this month told the IAEA it was preparing.
Initial military assessments can change as more information comes to light and it is not uncommon for opinions to vary across different U.S. intelligence agencies.
Democrats have previously said Trump’s claims that the weekend strikes eliminated or seriously set back Iran’s nuclear program were not yet backed by evidence.
“There’s zero evidence that I’ve seen that the nuclear program was completely and totally obliterated as Donald Trump has claimed,” House of Representatives Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on Monday.
Classified briefings on the matter for members of the House of Representatives and Senate were canceled on Tuesday.
Reporting by Jonathan Landay and Idrees Ali in Washington and Gram Slattery in The Hague; Additional reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Don Durfee and Cynthia Osterman
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