Hamas warns Gaza’s families against reported Israeli plan to arm them, task them with securing aid distribution

Hamas warned clans and families in the Gaza Strip against collaborating with the Israeli military to arm them and help them distribute humanitarian aid, according to the Hamas-aligned Al-Majd Al-Amni website, citing “resistance security.”

The warning comes after news broke last week that Israel intends to arm families and clans in the Gaza Strip to safeguard and oversee the aid distribution, with the ranks of Hamas police who used to handle the task vastly diminished by repeated Israeli military targeting.

With Israel obstructing aid convoys from reaching or navigating the strip and opening fire on people waiting to receive these essentials on multiple occasions, the scarce deliveries which do make it to the starved and besieged population are barely enough to meet its urgent needs.

As a result, casualties due to dehydration and malnutrition rose to over 25 in recent days.

Conceding to Israel’s proposition would constitute “direct collaboration with the Occupation and a national betrayal that we will not tolerate,” Hamas’s security source reportedly told Al-Majd Al-Amni.

Hamas will handle those who disrupt the internal front in the strip “with an iron fist” and will not permit the imposition of new rules, according to the source cited by the outlet.

The source said that arming families and clans is an attempt by the Occupation to offset battlefield losses, describing the move as “political games within the Gaza Strip.” They described the Occupation's attempt to concoct entities to manage the strip as a “failed conspiracy.”

Hamas police used to secure the aid deliveries conducted by humanitarian agencies in Gaza. But with many personnel killed during the five months of Israel’s aggression, security around the deliveries has deteriorated. Disorder has erupted around a number of aid deliveries, with crowds of people vying to access the scarce supplies.

The United States reportedly asked Israel to stop targeting Hamas police, with Tel Aviv rejecting the request.

Reuters cited Israeli reports last Friday which said that the Tel Aviv government had discussed arming families and clans in the Gaza Strip to provide security protection for aid convoys.