On 4 May, the Israeli cabinet endorsed new plans to ramp up the military’s offensive in Gaza, nineteen months into the war sparked by Hamas’s assault on southern Israel on 7 October 2023. Dubbed Operation Gideon’s Chariots, Israel’s incremental plan aims first and foremost to conquer Gaza and defeat Hamas, as well as to free the remaining Israeli hostages in the strip. It also involves taking control of the enclave’s internal aid distribution channels, expanding Israel’s longstanding restrictions on the entry of vital supplies. Since 2 March, aid has been completely blocked by Israel, pushing 2.2 million Palestinians toward mass starvation; the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a UN-coordinated body, warns that Gaza is now at “critical risk” of famine. Operation Gideon’s Chariots has not yet rumbled into motion; Israeli officials say it may start after U.S. President Donald Trump’s much-anticipated visit to the Middle East on 13-16 May and will likely take place in stages. Trump’s itinerary includes stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates but not Israel.

As the presidential trip approached, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee held a press conference to rebrand the aid component of Israel’s plan as a U.S.-led initiative, carefully distinguishing it from Israel’s military campaign and promising its imminent rollout using private security contractors. It was an apparent attempt to assuage Gulf Arab concerns about how it would look for them to be striking investment deals with President Trump while Gaza is being starved. Yet whoever will run the new food distribution scheme, it is not merely insufficient, but misguided and dangerous. Tens of thousands of tonnes of desperately needed food, medicine and supplies are sitting waiting at Gaza’s borders. The dozens of aid groups, including UN agencies, that have been keeping the population alive insist they only need Israel to open the crossings, so that they may recommence their work without fear; they do not need anyone to build an entirely new system. Meanwhile, if Israel’s military operation does move forward as proposed, it is almost certain to unleash even deeper catastrophe for Gaza’s population.