On Wednesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Laura Coates Live,” CNN Correspondent Hadas Gold and CNN Military Analyst Col. Cedric Leighton (Ret.) stated that it’s going to be very difficult to ensure humanitarian aid that goes into Gaza isn’t stolen by Hamas because “there are no mechanisms of enforcement,” and it will be difficult for the United Nations to safeguard aid in wartime.
After speaking with Israeli Government Spokesman Eylon Levy, host Laura Coates asked, “Just, in hearing what he said to say about the conditions, really, of being in compliance or going along with what President Biden has said, the conditions about hostages being released, the [idea] of how to ensure that the aid is not going to be essentially taken and siphoned off by Hamas. Is it realistic to think that could actually be a condition that could be met before aid gets there?”
Leighton responded, “Well, I think it’s possible, but there’s no peacekeeping mechanism, there are no troops on the ground to keep anybody away from these stores, any mechanism to prevent Hamas from going after these things. So, it’s a bit touchy, and I think there are — because there are no mechanisms of enforcement, I think it’s going to be a bit of a problem, Laura.”
Coates then asked, “But he mentioned the international community, obviously, he seemed to be imploring vigilance from just outside of Israel as well. Is there a collective way to get this done?”
Gold answered, “I think the only mechanism right now would be the United Nations, who does have a presence there. But it will be really difficult to do that in a time of war. I don’t know how you can actually do these checks in the correct way. Now, Egypt could do it on their end, but then there is the concern of where this aid will go to. Now, in Israel’s mind, they are doing this operation to completely eliminate Hamas. So, in a way, if they can go in and eliminate Hamas the way they think they need to do so, then that aid would essentially have nowhere to go to be administered by Hamas, if they no longer exist, if Israel’s successful.”
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