Yisrael Beytenu party leader Avigdor Liberman visited the Kerem Shalom border crossing on Monday, where he warned that Israel was funding Hamas and allowing the terror group to rebuild by sending humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.
“I look around and see countless trucks, and the truth must be told to the public: These trucks are funding Hamas’s military build-up,” he said.
Footage showed Liberman in front of trucks at the crossing.
He was joined by members of his party, MK Yulia Malinovsky and MK Sharon Nir, who said they have blocked entry of humanitarian aid trucks.
Activists from Tzav 9, an organization that protests the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, were at the crossing as well. The group called on all members of the Knesset to join them in blocking the entry of aid.
Liberman said that taxpayer money was being used to supply electricity and water to the Strip.
“Reconstruction has already begun in practice. The electricity and water that the State of Israel continues to supply, together with the flow of goods and equipment, are all funded by Israeli citizens – at the expense of the Israeli taxpayer,” he said.
“The October 7 government is returning to exactly the same concept, once more endangering the security of Israel’s citizens,” the Yisrael Beytenu leader said.
He added that the delivery of aid to Gaza was a “recipe for the next disaster.”
“Rehabilitating the Gaza Strip before disarming Hamas is simply lawlessness, and it is a return to the very concept that brought us to October 7,” he insisted, while standing at the crossing.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has called for the disarmament of Hamas as part of the second phase of the US ceasefire plan after the IDF located the remains of the last hostage held in Hamas captivity in January.
Humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza were part of the first phase of the ceasefire plan agreed upon in October. The IDF was obligated to send 600 trucks of aid per day into Gaza as part of phase one, partly to restore long-term food security and partly to build goodwill with the Trump administration.
No obligation to maintain the 600-truck pace in Phase II, IDF says
The food aid going into Gaza is provided and funded by third parties and international NGOs. Israel facilitates its entry into the Strip.
IDF sources contended on January 29 that there was no obligation to maintain the 600-truck pace in phase two, which is far above the pre-war average of closer to 200 trucks per day. International NGOs, too, say they have grown tired of keeping up with the pace.
The IDF added that almost all the trucks, in excess of the first 200 that enter Gaza, are being hijacked by Hamas and used to solidify the terror group’s control of the Strip.
Before the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, goods were transferred into Gaza predominantly through Kerem Shalom, including gas and fuel officially designated for civilian use.
Throughout the war, additional crossings were opened at various times to allow humanitarian aid to enter the enclave, with Kissufim and Zikim among those later operational, in addition to Kerem Shalom.
During a press conference at the Knesset on Monday, Liberman referred to the aid entering Gaza from the crossing as “the height of absurdity.”
“What we saw there was unimaginable,” Liberman said, reflecting on the visit.
“Hundreds of trucks were entering the Gaza Strip, and at the exact same time, closeby, four terrorists emerged from a shaft in Rafah,” he pointed out.
“There is not a single day when Hamas does not violate the [ceasefire] agreement,” Liberman emphasized.
“This government is not capable of restoring security. Not to the residents of the Gaza border communities, not to the IDF soldiers, and not to Israeli citizens within the country’s borders,” the politician insisted.
Yonah Jeremy Bob and Sarah Ben-Nun contributed to this report.