How does the Israeli occupation protect organized gangs that steal aid in Gaza?

The Washington Post reported from various sources that there are organized gangs stealing aid in Gaza and operating freely in areas controlled by the Israeli occupation army.

The newspaper reported that relief organizations and transportation companies confirmed that organized gangs killed and kidnapped aid truck drivers around the Kerem Shalom crossing.

The organizations confirmed that looting has become the biggest obstacle to the distribution of aid in the southern part of Gaza, and pointed out that the Israeli authorities have rejected most requests to take better measures to protect the convoys in Gaza, and have also rejected appeals to allow the civilian police in Gaza to protect the trucks.

The Washington Post said that an internal UN memo confirmed that aid-stealing gangs in Gaza "benefit from the leniency, if not protection, of the Israeli military," and that a gang leader had established what looked like a military base in an area under Israeli military control.

According to the memo, Yasser Abu Shabab is the main party in the organized looting of aid in Gaza. The newspaper, citing aid workers and UN officials, reported that Israeli forces were close to looting operations in Gaza and did not intervene.

In contrast, the Washington Post reported the Israeli army's response, which denied accusations of leniency and allowing the looting of aid in Gaza, and said in a statement that it "is implementing countermeasures against aid thieves with an emphasis on targeting terrorists."

An American official told the newspaper that the looting is the biggest obstacle to the distribution of aid in Gaza, and stressed that the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) is not behind these attacks.

An official in a major international relief organization also confirmed that there had been no Hamas interference in the organization's programs in either the north or south of the Strip.

109 trucks looted

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) announced on Monday that a convoy of 109 trucks "was subjected to violent looting" after entering the Gaza Strip on November 16.

The UN agency's emergency official, Louise Waterridge, told Reuters that the looting resulted in "the loss of 98 trucks."

She added that the convoy, loaded with food supplies from UNRWA and the World Food Programme, "received an order from Israel, without sufficient preparation time, to enter through an unusual route through the Kerem Shalom crossing."

Yesterday, Monday, the Ministry of Interior forces in Gaza moved to confront criminal gangs and killed more than 20 gangs of aid truck thieves in a security operation carried out by the security forces in cooperation with tribal committees, according to what was reported by Al-Aqsa TV.

The channel indicated that the security operation will not be the last, and is the beginning of a comprehensive security operation that has been planned for a long time and will expand to include everyone involved in stealing aid trucks, adding that "the security services will punish with an iron fist anyone involved in helping gangs of thieves."

She confirmed that the security services monitored communications between the gangs of thieves and the occupation forces in covering their work and directing their tasks, and providing them with security cover from the Shin Bet officers.

The Israeli occupation protects the gangs

The areas where the thefts of trucks carrying aid to the people of Gaza are taking place are completely under Israeli control. These areas are close to the Kerem Shalom crossing on the easternmost border of Rafah, where large forces of the occupation army are deployed nearby and tens of meters away, participating for more than six months in the ground incursion into Rafah.

Even before occupying the city of Rafah, the occupation forces prevented any police force from Gaza from participating in securing aid convoys, and more than once carried out attacks through air raids on police vehicles and killed those inside them, during missions to secure trucks belonging to international organizations.

Due to the lack of security in these areas, armed individuals standing close to the occupation soldiers, according to what truck drivers reported, are stealing and looting many aid trucks on their way to the Gaza Strip.

The rate of theft has increased dramatically recently, which has prompted many UN organizations to suspend aid deliveries, fearing looting.

In an indication of the occupation’s complicity in this dilemma that is increasing the levels of hunger in Gaza, the Hebrew newspaper Haaretz reported earlier that the Israeli army is allowing Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip to loot and collect extortion money from aid trucks.

Source: Washington Post + websites