{"id":18885,"date":"2024-11-25T22:20:16","date_gmt":"2024-11-25T22:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=18885"},"modified":"2024-11-25T22:20:16","modified_gmt":"2024-11-25T22:20:16","slug":"gangsters-block-aid-distribution-in-south-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=18885","title":{"rendered":"Gangsters block aid distribution in south Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"ReutersReuters<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Food prices soared in Gaza after the looting of nearly 100 UN aid lorries this month<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Amid severe food shortages in Gaza, increasingly violent thefts by criminal gangs are now the main obstacle to distributing supplies in the south, aid workers and locals say.<\/p>\n

They allege that armed men operate within plain sight of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in a restricted zone by the border.<\/p>\n

The BBC has learnt that Hamas – sensing an opportunity to regain its faltering control – has reactivated a special security force to combat theft and banditry.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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After gangsters robbed nearly 100 UN lorries, injuring many of the Palestinian drivers, on 16 November – one of the worst single losses of aid during the war – a number of alleged looters were then killed in an ambush.<\/p>\n

A notorious Gazan criminal family then blocked the main Salah al-Din Road leading from Israel\u2019s Kerem Shalom crossing point for two days last week.<\/p>\n

Witnesses said iron barriers were erected and lorries trying to access the aid distribution point were fired at.<\/p>\n

\u201cLaw and order have broken down in the area around the Kerem Shalom crossing, which remains the main entry point of goods, and gangs are filling the power vacuum,\u201d says Sam Rose, deputy director of Unrwa, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, in Gaza.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s inevitable after 13 months of intense conflict – things fall apart.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Displaced<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Heavy rains and high waves have flooded tented camps for displaced Palestinians across Gaza, including Deir al-Balah<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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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\u2019s 2.3 million population – now displaced to the centre and south.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is tactical, systematic, criminal looting,\u201d says Georgios Petropoulos, head of the UN\u2019s humanitarian office, Ocha, in Gaza.<\/p>\n

He says this is leading to \u201cultra-violence\u201d in all directions – \u201cfrom the looters towards the truckers, from the IDF towards the police, and from the police towards the looters\u201d.<\/p>\n

There has been increased lawlessness in Gaza since Israel began targeting police officers early this year, citing their role in Hamas governance.<\/p>\n

\u201cHamas\u2019s security control dropped to under 20%,\u201d the former head of Hamas police investigations told the BBC, adding: \u201cWe are working on a plan to restore control to 60% within a month.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some displaced Gazans in the south welcome the new Hamas efforts against criminal gangs.<\/p>\n

\u201cKilling the thieves who stole aid is a step in the right direction,\u201d exclaims one man, Mohammed Abu Jared.<\/p>\n

However, others see them as a cynical attempt to take control of lucrative black markets.<\/p>\n

\u201cHamas is killing its competitors in stealing aid,\u201d says Mohammed Diab, an activist in Deir al-Balah. \u201cA big mafia has finished off a small mafia.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"ReutersReuters<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Aid agencies say there has been a stark increase in the number of households experiencing severe hunger in central and southern Gaza<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Many see Hamas\u2019s attempts to take a lead against the criminality as the direct consequence of Israels\u2019 failure to agree on a post-war plan in Gaza.<\/p>\n

There are currently no alternatives to replace the Islamist movement and armed group which Israeli leaders pledged to destroy after last year\u2019s deadly 7 October attacks.<\/p>\n

The chaos comes at a time when aid entering the Palestinian territory has dropped to some of the lowest levels since the start of the war.<\/p>\n

While the threat of famine is greatest in besieged parts of the north where Israel is conducting a new, intense military offensive, in the south there are also major shortages of food, medicines and other goods.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrices of basic commodities are sky-rocketing – a bag of flour costs more than $200 (\u00a3160), a single egg $15 – or else goods are simply not available,\u201d Sam Rose of Unrwa says.<\/p>\n

Every day in the past week, Umm Ahmed has stood with her children in a huge queue outside a bakery in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, where ultimately some loaves are given out.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy children are very hungry every day. We can\u2019t afford the basics. It\u2019s constant suffering. No food, no water, no cleaning products, nothing,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want much, just to live a decent life. We need food. We need goods to come in and be distributed fairly. That\u2019s all we\u2019re asking for.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Umm<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Umm Ahmed says her children are going hungry every day<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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The US has been pressing for Israel to allow more aid lorries into Gaza.<\/p>\n

However, Israeli 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.<\/p>\n

Aid workers reject that. They are urgently calling for many entry restrictions imposed by the Israeli authorities to be lifted, and for more crossing points to be opened and secured so they can collect and distribute supplies.<\/p>\n

They say the breakdown in public order needs to be addressed and that Israel, as an occupying power, is obliged to provide protection and security.<\/p>\n

The BBC was told that thefts often happen in clear sight of Israeli soldiers or surveillance drones – but that the army fails to intervene.<\/p>\n

Stolen goods are apparently being stored outside or in warehouses in areas under Israeli military control.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Displaced<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Israel is reportedly studying the option of using a private contractor to deliver aid<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Early in the war, as food became increasingly scarce, desperate Gazans were sometimes seen stealing from incoming aid lorries.<\/p>\n

Soon, cigarette smuggling became a huge business with gangs holding up convoys at gunpoint after they arrived from Egypt\u2019s Rafah crossing and, after this shut in May, Kerem Shalom.<\/p>\n

A cigarette 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 cigarette can cost 180 shekels ($48.60).<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

For the past six weeks, the Israeli authorities have banned commercial imports, arguing that these benefit Hamas.<\/p>\n

This has added to the decrease in the supply of food, which is in turn driving the rise in armed looting.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s black market.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, months\u2019 worth of donated supplies are being held back in Egypt due to hold-ups in aid delivery.<\/p>\n

In recent days, local media reports are suggesting that Israel is now studying the option of delivering aid to Gaza by means of a private, armed American security contractor.<\/p>\n

While nothing has yet been officially announced, aid workers are worried.<\/p>\n

Georgios Petropoulos of Ocha questions which donor countries would want supplies distributed this way.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow safe is it really going to be?\u201d he asks: \u201cI think it will be a vector for more bloodshed and violence.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Source: <\/em> www.bbc.com\u2026<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 criminal 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18885\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}