With election over, US turns up pressure on Israel over winter aid for Gaza

The US-backed Board of Peace issued a seething statement last week expressing frustration with Israel's policies on the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. As winter weather sets in, the body said it was pushing Israel "to abide by its commitments" and allow a range of materials into the enclave, charging that Israeli policy is preventing action to deprive Hamas of its weapons.

The message joined a growing chorus of calls for Israel to change its stance, and much of the pressure is coming from Washington now that the October 27 Knesset election is behind it. In the run-up to the vote, the White House avoided holding Jerusalem's feet to the fire, giving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leeway to protect his campaign. That grace period has ended. With Republicans soundly beaten in the midterms and President Donald Trump's domestic agenda out of reach, the administration may see foreign policy as its remaining arena for legacy-building wins.

Trump's Gaza peace plan, once a centerpiece of his foreign policy vision, has been moribund for months. Israel insists no rebuilding will take place until Hamas is fully disarmed, a process that has yet to begin. In late July, the Board of Peace proposed that Hamas start handing over its weapons, and the group said it agreed, but Netanyahu publicly rejected the plan, saying he was seeking "genuine disarmament, not a fictitious one." Trump, uncharacteristically, gave Netanyahu a pass and later endorsed him vigorously, with US special envoy Jared Kushner remarking in September that the election was making Netanyahu's government act "a little irrational" on Gaza.

Now Trump and his Board of Peace are tightening the screws. Earlier this month, top Gaza envoy Nickolay Mladenov and senior envoy Tony Blair, the former UK prime minister, visited Israel to tell Netanyahu and other officials that more flexibility is expected of him. Last week, according to Channel 12 news, Trump called Netanyahu to say it was time to move forward on the postwar Gaza plan.

The urgency has been sharpened by the weather. A winter storm blew through the eastern Mediterranean last weekend, bringing heavy rains that flooded tent camps in Gaza and left tens of thousands of homeless families without shelter, while the collapse of a sand embankment at a displacement camp in central Gaza killed five people. British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband warned of "intolerable suffering" caused by Israel's "arbitrary restrictions," and the Board of Peace said it was "deeply concerned by the.. immediate humanitarian emergency." It said it had "specifically urged" Israel to allow in "temporary shelter, water and sanitation infrastructure, waste management, drainage, and sewage removal," called Israel's response "insufficient," and blamed it for significantly delaying Hamas's disarmament and the entry of the technocratic National Committee for the Administration of Gaza.

Much of the Board's anger stems from Israel's refusal to budge on dual-use materials, and the official seen as most problematic is Maj. Gen. Yoram Halevi, chief of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. "There is a lot of frustration over the dual-use issue," a foreign diplomat said. Halevi, a former Jerusalem police chief with ties to the outgoing government's right flank, was described by Defense Minister Israel Katz as "well-acquainted with Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria" when selected for the post, while Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich holds a Defense Ministry role with extensive influence over COGAT.

Israel has pushed back hard, placing responsibility squarely on Hamas. COGAT said the allegations "divert attention from Hamas's responsibility," insisting it is "fulfilling its humanitarian obligations under the ceasefire agreement" and has worked for months with the United Nations on a winter preparedness plan. It said dual-use requests are assessed by humanitarian need and security risk, with alternatives advanced under monitoring when needed. Netanyahu's office said Israel is working with the US and the Board on a winter plan including over 91,000 tents, more than 8,200 trucks' worth of winter clothing and supplies, 12 sewage removal trucks, and repairs to water infrastructure, while accusing Hamas of diverting cement, water pipes and sanitation pumps to military use.

Aid groups note that tents are a poor substitute for sturdier modular shelters, but Israel bans prefab and mobile homes, fearing they would signal a form of rebuilding while Hamas remains armed. The friction extends beyond aid: the International Stabilization Force still lacks an agreed mandate, and its base has not been built, with the Guardian reporting that Israel has blocked construction two months after a US company won a tender for an outpost for 150 troops. The NCAG has not entered Gaza, and two Board of Peace officials said Netanyahu's government has prevented some 16,500 vetted Palestinians from leaving the Strip to train for a new police force.

Netanyahu, now in caretaker mode amid uncertainty over whether the election will produce a government or a second round of voting, appears unwilling to risk looking soft on Hamas. His chief rival Gadi Eisenkot, if he forms a government, would likely be more open to international requests. With his own electoral fate sealed and Gaza central to his record, including the release of the Israeli hostages and the ceasefire, Trump may be less inclined to grant Netanyahu further passes.