Hamas’ hands

Sullivan details mechanisms to keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas’ hands

“We have seen this work over the course of the last several weeks as humanitarian assistance has ramped up,” Jake Sullivan said.

By KELLY GARRITY

Amid concerns that the four-day Israel-Hamas ceasefire could allow Hamas to bolster its forces, safeguards are in place to prevent the humanitarian aid being shuttled in Gaza as part of the hostage deal from being hijacked by Hamas forces, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday.

“First, Dana, there’s the inspection mechanism,” Sullivan told CNN’s Dana Bash. “The Israelis at a crossing called Nitzana, check all of the trucks before they go in through the Rafah crossing into Gaza. And they check to make sure that it is, in fact, humanitarian supplies and not goods that could help Hamas in its military campaign.”

After that, aid trucks move on to U.N. depots and to other vetted humanitarian organizations, who distribute aid directly to people in need, Sullivan said on “State of the Union.”

“We have seen this work over the course of the last several weeks as humanitarian assistance has ramped up,” Sullivan said, but U.S. leaders continue to monitor the process closely.

“President Biden stays in close touch with the Israeli leadership on this, with the U.N. leadership, and with others to make sure, in fact, the aid is getting to where it belongs, which is the innocent people who are suffering,” Sullivan added.

On Saturday, 200 aid trucks were dispatched from Nitzana and 187 had made it into Gaza by Saturday evening, according to the U.N., sending desperately needed food, water and fuel into the besieged region.