Following a meeting of the War Cabinet, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant were authorized to immediately increase the humanitarian aid to Gaza, according to Israeli media, early Friday morning.
Israel will allow the temporary delivery of humanitarian aid through Ashdod and the Erez checkpoint and an increase of Jordanian aid through the Kerem Shalom crossing.
The cabinet stated, “This increased aid will prevent a humanitarian crisis and is necessary to ensure the continuation of the fighting and to achieve the goals of the war.”
This will be the first time since October 7 that the Erez Crossing will have been opened.
These decisions were made soon after President Biden warned Netanyahu that unless the IDF put more effort into protecting civilians, US policy on Gaza would change.
The stern warning was issued following the killing of seven World Central Kitchen workers by the IDF.
The US has increased pressure on Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip in the past weeks, especially since the passing of a ceasefire resolution in the UN Security Council in March.
Israel has resisted calls for a ceasefire, citing the need for any ceasefire to be directly linked with the release of hostages held by Hamas since October 7.
Ben-Gvir in denial
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir rejected the vote and denied it occured, according to Israeli media.
Ben-Gvir told Israeli media that “there was no vote this evening in the cabinet” and that the statement by the Prime Minister’s Office was incorrect.
He said it was the wrong way to get the hostages back and that the only way would be to stop the introduction of aid to the Strip. He said the only acceptable condition was “humanitarian for humanitarian.”
Ben-Gvir ended his message by saying, “We must enter Rafah now!”
