Concerns raised as US mulls new Gaza ‘aid hubs’ plan

Phil Stewart and Jonathan Landay | October 24, 2025

The United States is considering a proposal for humanitarian aid delivery in Gaza that would replace the controversial US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, according to a copy of the plan seen by Reuters.

It is one of several concepts being explored, said two US officials and a humanitarian official familiar with the plan, as Washington seeks to facilitate increased deliveries of assistance to the Palestinian enclave after two years of war.

“Multiple approaches are being considered to effectively get aid to the people of Gaza – nothing is finalised,” said a senior US administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has been in place for 13 days. Under that deal some more aid is now entering Gaza, where a global hunger monitor warned in August that famine had taken hold.

The “operational backbone” of the proposal seen by Reuters would be a so-called “Gaza Humanitarian Belt” – 12 to 16 humanitarian hubs positioned along the line to which Israeli forces have withdrawn within Gaza. Those hubs would serve people on both sides of the line.

The hubs would also include “voluntary reconciliation facilities” for militants to give up their weapons and receive amnesty, and forward operating bases for future forces with the planned international stabilisation force to help demilitarise Gaza.

The United Nations and international aid groups are likely to be wary of the plan that in part resembles the GHF method of using secure distribution hubs and armed escorts to transport aid.

“The ‘aid hubs’ they describe are very concerning as they resemble GHF sites in areas controlled by” Israeli forces, said a senior international aid official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The proposal reflected a conceptual approach being explored by the US, said a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity. But the official said it was not the only concept for an aid operation and declined to speculate about the likelihood it would be implemented.

Under the proposal, the hubs would be used for: secure aid depots to distribute food, water, medical supplies and other aid directly to civilians; logistics hubs and warehouses from which aid groups could distribute same-day rations and goods to civilians deep in Gaza using small pick-up trucks; infrastructure hubs to restore water, electricity and sanitation, medical facilities, and mass kitchens and bakeries.

The proposal says the GHF would be “absorbed/replaced” by the UAE/Morocco Red Cross and Samaritan’s Purse, an evangelical Christian aid organisation.

Meanwhile, US Vice President JD Vance said President Donald Trump will oppose Israeli annexation of the occupied West Bank and it will not happen, suggesting a move by Israeli MPs to that end looked like a stupid “political stunt”.

A bill applying Israeli law to the West Bank, a move tantamount to annexation of the territory Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war, won preliminary approval from Israeli MPs on Wednesday.

Asked by reporters about the move, Vance said: “If it was a political stunt, it is a very stupid one, and I personally take some insult to it.”

Vance spoke after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that moves toward annexing the territory that Palestinians seek for part of an independent state could endanger Trump’s plan to end the Gaza Strip war, which has yielded a shaky ceasefire so far.

“The West Bank is not going to be annexed by Israel. The policy of President Trump is that the West Bank will not be annexed. This will always be our policy,” Vance said during a trip to Israel to help shore up the truce.