Aid Truck Looters in Gaza Operate Under Israeli Forces’ Protection, Reports Find

Israeli forces are explicitly allowing — and, in some cases, giving protection to — armed gangs in Gaza that are looting aid trucks and creating major obstacles for humanitarian groups to reach Palestinians in need, reports reveal.

According to The Washington Post, an internal UN memo from last month found that looting gangs “may be benefiting from a passive if not active benevolence” from the Israeli military — and potentially outright protection by Israeli soldiers. The Post also found in interviews with those involved on the ground that, under the watch of the Israeli military, the once sparse looting has grown into an organized enterprise.

Looters will often hijack a truck to sell the goods at exorbitant prices or destroy the aid, looking for cigarettes — which are banned from entry by Israeli authorities — smuggled into Gaza to sell on the black market, the investigation found. These operations have reportedly resulted in aid groups losing $25.5 million in aid this summer; in that time, the World Food Programme lost half of its food aid along the main route where the looting occurs.

These groups operate in areas that are under Israeli military control. The main entry point for aid, the Kerem Abu Salem or Kerem Shalom crossing, is located in the south, in a part of Gaza that Israeli forces took over in May. It is there where most of the pillaging occurs — sometimes just hundreds of meters away from Israeli forces.

For months, aid groups have said that widespread, often violent looting has become a major impediment for the delivery of humanitarian aid to Palestinians. This is deepening the already horrific humanitarian catastrophe, created by Israel’s deadly humanitarian aid blockade, that is threatening to suffocate all Palestinians in the region. Israel has been worsening the blockade in recent months, with aid entry reaching a record low in October, as famine grips the enclave.

This weekend, 97 trucks out of a 109-truck UN convoy were violently looted and lost, according to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). Looters held drivers at gunpoint and forced them to unload the aid, according to the group. The convoy was reportedly supposed to enter through southern Gaza, but Israeli forces told them to enter through an “alternate, unfamiliar route” at the last minute, NPR reported.

Other reports released recently have corroborated Israeli forces’ authorization of the looting operations. According to Haaretz, Israeli forces often stand by as gangs stop humanitarian aid trucks by using barricades or shooting the tires. They then extort large fees from the convoys, threatening to steal the goods or enact violence if the workers don’t obey.

Palestinian police have attempted to intervene at points or provide protection for the convoys, but come under attack by Israeli forces when they do.

The pillaging is so regular that Israeli forces have dubbed an area near Kerem Abu Salem “the looting zone,” Middle East Monitor reports; this area is under full Israeli control.

Israeli soldiers are seemingly allowing these gangs to operate despite the military’s practice elsewhere of shooting Palestinians on sight. Israeli soldiers regularly kill Palestinians seeking food or other supplies in Gaza and do not spare anyone, even and especially children. And yet, the Israeli military allows these looters to operate with seeming freedom, unlike anyone else in Gaza who is not affiliated with Israeli forces.

Israeli officials have attempted to deflect blame for the human rights catastrophe on the looters, and have frequently claimed that Hamas members are responsible for the looting. However, aid groups and even a U.S. official have said that this is patently untrue, according to the Post.

“We have not seen any physical interference from Hamas anywhere in our programs, north or south,” a humanitarian official told the publication. In fact, in some cases, members of Hamas have targeted and attacked the looters; the Post found that many of the gangs are “rivals of Hamas.” Hamas fighters have reportedly levied a new effort to target pillagers this week, and reportedly killed 20 of the looters recently.

Some reports have even said that Israeli forces are, in fact, arming the groups, as Gaza journalist Abubaker Abed told Drop Site recently. Abed added that the gangs are operating under the protection of Israeli drones.