Gangs and ‘ultra-violence’ blocking south Gaza aid distribution

[Pelican Press 0]

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Gangs and ‘ultra-*********’ blocking south Gaza aid distribution

Reuters

Food prices soared in Gaza after the looting of nearly 100 UN aid lorries this month

Amid severe food shortages in Gaza, increasingly violent thefts by ********* gangs are now the main obstacle to distributing supplies in the south, aid workers and locals say.

They allege that armed men operate within plain sight of the ******* Defense Forces (IDF) in a restricted zone by the border.

The BBC has learnt that ****** – sensing an opportunity to regain its faltering control – has reactivated a special security force to combat theft and banditry.

After gangsters robbed nearly 100 UN lorries, injuring many of the ************ drivers, on 16 November – one of the worst single losses of aid during the war – a number of alleged looters were then ******* in an ambush.

A notorious Gazan ********* family then blocked the main Salah al-Din Road leading from *******’s Kerem Shalom crossing point for two days last week.

Witnesses said iron barriers were erected and lorries trying to access the aid distribution point were fired at.

“Law and order have broken down in the area around the Kerem Shalom crossing, which ******** the main entry point of goods, and gangs are filling the power vacuum,” says Sam Rose, deputy director of Unrwa, the UN agency for ************ refugees, in Gaza.

“It’s inevitable after 13 months of intense conflict – things fall apart.”

Heavy rains and high waves have flooded tented camps for displaced Palestinians across Gaza, including Deir al-Balah

As the rainy winter weather begins, humanitarian officials say solving the worsening situation is critical to meet the huge, deepening needs of most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population – now displaced to the centre and south.

“It is tactical, systematic, ********* looting,” says Georgios Petropoulos, head of the UN’s humanitarian office, Ocha, in Gaza.

He says this is leading to “ultra-*********” in all directions – “from the looters towards the truckers, from the IDF towards the police, and from the police towards the looters”.

There has been increased lawlessness in Gaza since ******* began targeting police officers early this year, citing their role in ****** governance.

“******’s security control dropped to under 20%,” the former head of ****** police investigations told the BBC, adding: “We are working on a plan to restore control to 60% within a month.”

Some displaced Gazans in the south welcome the new ****** efforts against ********* gangs.

“******** the thieves who stole aid is a step in the right direction,” exclaims one man, Mohammed Abu Jared.

However, others see them as a cynical attempt to take control of lucrative ****** markets.

“****** is ******** its competitors in stealing aid,” says Mohammed Diab, an activist in Deir al-Balah. “A big ****** has finished off a small ******.”

Reuters

Aid agencies say there has been a stark increase in the number of households experiencing severe hunger in central and southern Gaza

Many see ******’s attempts to take a lead against the criminality as the direct consequence of Israels’ ******** to agree on a post-war plan in Gaza.

There are currently no alternatives to replace the Islamist movement and armed group which ******** leaders pledged to ******** after last year’s deadly 7 October attacks.

The chaos comes at a time when aid entering the ************ territory has dropped to some of the lowest levels since the start of the war.

While the threat of famine is greatest in besieged parts of the north where ******* is conducting a new, intense military offensive, in the south there are also major shortages of food, medicines and other goods.

“Prices of basic commodities are sky-rocketing – a bag of flour costs more than $200 (£160), a single egg $15 – or else goods are simply not available,” Sam Rose of Unrwa says.

Every day in the past week, Umm Ahmed has stood with her children in a huge ****** outside a bakery in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, where ultimately some loaves are given out.

“My children are very hungry every day. We can’t afford the basics. It’s constant suffering. No food, no water, no cleaning products, nothing,” she says.

“We don’t want much, just to live a decent life. We need food. We need goods to come in and be distributed fairly. That’s all we’re asking for.”

Umm Ahmed says her children are going hungry every day

The US has been pressing for ******* to allow more aid lorries into Gaza.

However, ******** officials say that the main reason that their goal of 350 a day has not been reached is the inability of the UN and other international aid agencies to bring enough lorries to the crossings.

Aid workers ******* that. They are urgently calling for many entry restrictions imposed by the ******** authorities to be lifted, and for more crossing points to be opened and secured so they can collect and distribute supplies.

They say the breakdown in public order needs to be addressed and that *******, as an occupying power, is obliged to provide protection and security.

The BBC was told that thefts often happen in clear sight of ******** soldiers or surveillance drones – but that the army fails to intervene.

Stolen goods are apparently being stored outside or in warehouses in areas under ******** military control.

The IDF did not respond to BBC requests for comment on how it combats organised looting and smuggling. It has previously insisted that it takes countermeasures and works to facilitate the entry of aid.

******* is reportedly studying the option of using a private contractor to deliver aid

Early in the war, as food became increasingly scarce, desperate Gazans were sometimes seen stealing from incoming aid lorries.

Soon, ********** smuggling became a huge business with gangs holding up convoys at gunpoint after they arrived from Egypt’s Rafah crossing and, after this shut in May, Kerem Shalom.

A ********** packet can sell for exorbitant amounts in Gaza: while a packet of 20 cost about 20 shekels ($5.40) before the war, now a single ********** can cost 180 shekels ($48.60).

Cigarettes are being found within the frames of wooden aid pallets and inside closed food cans, indicating that there is a regional racket involved in smuggling.

For the past six weeks, the ******** authorities have banned commercial imports, arguing that these benefit ******.

This has added to the decrease in the supply of food, which is in turn driving the rise in armed looting.

Stolen goods, from flour to winter shelters, sent as international donations and meant to be given as free handouts to needy people can only be bought at extortionate prices on Gaza’s ****** market.

Meanwhile, months’ worth of donated supplies are being held back in Egypt due to hold-ups in aid delivery.

In recent days, local media reports are suggesting that ******* is now studying the option of delivering aid to Gaza by means of a private, armed ********* security contractor.

While nothing has yet been officially announced, aid workers are worried.

Georgios Petropoulos of Ocha questions which donor countries would want supplies distributed this way.

“How safe is it really going to be?” he asks: “I think it will be a vector for more bloodshed and *********.”

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