JERUSALEM(VINnews) — Israel’s National Public Diplomacy Directorate claims that “The State of Israel is authorizing the continuous entry of essential aid into the Gaza Strip, as no country has done in any war.” An official message from the directorate further stated that “The enormous quantities of food that have entered and continue to enter the Strip exceed the current needs of Gaza’s population by four times, according to UN methodologies.”

The reason for conveying this message by the Israeli government is clear: these days, just as throughout the war, Israel is being accused of responsibility for a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, including allegations of starving the population and starving children. This message, at a sensitive point in time, both regarding progress in the phased plan for Gaza and in the Iranian context and Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit to Washington this week,could be considered important in these contexts. The problem, however, is not the message but the reality.

While Hamas repeatedly violates the agreements that led Israel to a ceasefire, Israel continues to bow its head and sustain the terrorist organization. No amount of international credit is worth the heavy price of aiding the continued entrenchment of Hamas in Gaza.

According to shocking data published by military correspondent Avi Ashkenazi, officials in the Civil Administration believe that the number of trucks entering the Strip should be reduced from the current 600 to no more than 200, and even believe that 120, the minimum number mentioned by the UN, could be enough.

The report indicates that despite the fact that the supplies are ostensibly intended for the residents of the Strip, and even if one ignores the widely known fact that there are no innocents in Gaza, Hamas levies a direct tax on every truck entering Gaza amounting to 15%, approximately 75,000 shekels per truck. This totals 45 million shekels per month, going directly into the pockets of the terrorist organization—all under the auspices of the Israeli government.

One can decide that there is no choice, and as long as Hamas controls Gaza, with the hope and aspiration that this situation will remain temporary and end soon, trucks must enter. But why more than is necessary? This amounts to 45 million shekels flowing directly to terrorists instead of serving the needs of the population in the Strip.

In the coming period, decisions regarding Gaza will be made through the introduction of a technocratic government in an attempt to dismantle Hamas’s weapons either voluntarily or through an Israeli military operation. Even if the situation in Gaza is temporary and Hamas’s rule is expected to end soon, there is not a shred of mandate for anyone to assist the terrorist organization and finance it through those unnecessary trucks.

The message from the public diplomacy apparatus does not serve Israel’s interests. It serves those who argue against the state and indirectly even justifies the accusations leveled against it. Not to mention the damage to morale it causes among Israeli citizens, first and foremost IDF soldiers, who are dealing these days with an impossible reality: constant and tangible life-threatening danger and ongoing violations by terrorist organizations both within and beyond the “yellow line,,” while Israel continues to indirectly fund the same terrorist organizations.