LONDON: Israel has started building distribution hubs in southern and central Gaza under plans to control aid supplies in the territory, the BBC reported on Thursday.
Satellite images showed four sites being prepared in Gaza, including three near Rafah in the south.
Israel cut off all aid supplies into Gaza in March after ending a ceasefire and resuming widespread bombing of the devastated territory.
Israel said that it will only allow aid into Gaza once it has prepared its new distribution system and taken over operations from the UN and aid groups.
Aid agencies warned last week that the Israeli plans will increase suffering and death in Gaza. The plan is also staunchly opposed by Arab and European governments.
The report by BBC Verify said that analyzes of the satellite images showed land had been cleared, with new roads and staging areas prepared in recent weeks.
The sites are similar in size and design to existing distribution hubs in Gaza.
One of the sites in the south is near a new Israeli military base, and images from early April showed a large staging area and new road surrounded by defensive berms 650 meters from the border with Egypt.
An image from May 8 showed earth-moving machinery working on an eight-hectare area of land.
Images from May 11 and May 12 showed the three other sites expanding, with one located half a kilometer from UN warehouses.
An imagery intelligence analyst told the BBC that the sites were likely to be secure distribution centers and that some were in “close proximity to IDF forward operating bases, which ties in with the IDF wishing to have some control over the sites.”
The newly created US-backed NGO, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, said on Wednesday that it would begin work distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza this month but has urged Israel to resume aid flow immediately through the existing distribution systems.
The Israeli plans to focus the distribution hubs in the south has led to accusations that Israel aims to force the Palestinian population into that area.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation has become even more desperate, with food security experts warning this week that Gaza will soon descend into famine if the blockade is not lifted.
