'We support fully': Top Israeli official on US-backed initiative for aid delivery to Gaza civilians

New Delhi: A top official in the Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday said his country "supports fully" a new US-backed initiative that seeks to engage in aid delivery to civilians in Gaza.

Director General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Eden Bar Tal said this in response to a query on the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, during a press briefing in Israel, which was also attended online by several journalists.

"First of all it is an American initiative, and that question must be addressed to them. What Israel does is that we are asking the international community, organisations, donors, the UN, etc, support the effort.

"It is very important and it answers the real needs of the population, and avoiding the hijacking of aid by Hamas. That would help the population much more than any other model that we know, so far," he told reporters.

"And, if anybody has a better idea, we are always open for more ideas, but we support fully the American initiative," the senior official said.

The press briefing was on the latest developments related to humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

Earlier, in his opening statement, he described some of the modalities of this "new American model for aid".

"The purpose of the aid is to help the population, and not to support Hamas," he said, adding, "Israel supports this plan fully".

This is the rationale behind this new model for aid, presented 10 days ago by the US, the top Israeli official said.

Tal said an international fund will operate as part of this initiative.

"The fund will distribute aid in several distribution centres located in safe areas in Gaza. The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) will not take part in the distribution, the IDF will secure the perimeter... The distribution sites should be operating in matter of days," he said.

The Israel-Hamas conflict has been triggered by a shocking attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Israel launched a massive military offensive in Gaza as part of its retaliation to the 2023 attack on Israeli cities by Hamas.