Due to the severe shortage of flour, all eight UN-supported bakeries in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis in Gaza have been operating at reduced capacity for weeks, and many have been forced to close completely, according to UNRWA. [Getty]
On Monday, a Hamas security unit called “Sahm” of the Hamas-run interior ministry killed at least 20 gang members who attempted to loot trucks loaded with humanitarian aid in a complicated military operation carried out in eastern parts of Khan Younis and Rafah in the south of Gaza.
Speaking to The New Arab, a security source in the ministry who preferred not to be named said, “We carried out the military operation against the thieves’ gangs in cooperation with tribal committees in Rafah and Khan Younis.”
“We succeeded in killing a number of them who contributed to the starvation of our people by stealing aid and selling it at exorbitant prices,” the source added.
The source claimed that Gaza’s security services monitored communications between these “gangs” and the Israeli army forces that direct their tasks and provide them with security cover.
On Monday, a Washington Post report said gangs looting Gaza aid are operating in areas under Israeli control, led by criminal elements with a history of drugs smuggling and others who were involved with the Islamic State group (ISIS) according to Palestinian journalists.
Aid deliveries to Gaza are currently at a critical juncture due to increased looting. The most recent incident involved the seizure of 98 out of 109 trucks en route from the Kerem Shalom crossing to the besieged region, according to several testimonies reported by The Washington Post from aid workers, humanitarian staff, aid transport companies, and eyewitnesses. Due to the ongoing organized looting, the newspaper noted that “the risk of famine is most severe in the north, but the entire population is now facing acute food insecurity.”
Two of the gang leaders—one a drug trafficker and the other previously associated with ISIS—appear to be orchestrating the largest and most active looting operations of aid convoys bound for Gaza. The two leaders, Yasser Abu Shabab and Shadi Al-Soufi, who were previously sought by Hamas security forces before the war, appear to be now working alongside hundreds of thieves under the protection of Israeli occupation forces in areas near the Kerem Shalom crossing—the primary entry point for aid convoys.
Yasser Abu Shabab, who comes from the Tarabin Bedouin tribe that extends from Sinai to southern Gaza and the Negev desert, is said to be “the main influential figure behind the widespread and organized looting” of aid convoys to Gaza according to the UN memo. Abu Shabab, who operates from eastern Rafah, leads a group of around 100 armed thugs who attack trucks carrying food and other supplies into Gaza.
In an interview with the newspaper, Abu Shabab admitted that he and his relatives “take from the trucks” but insisted they do not touch “food, tents, or supplies for children.”
An internal UN memo obtained by the newspaper revealed that the gang leaders include individuals linked to local crime in Gaza, with one having “established a military compound” in a “restricted area under Israeli army control and patrols.” The memo also concluded that the gangs “may be benefiting from a passive if not active benevolence” or “protection” from Israel.
The other gang leader, Shadi Al-Soufi, was detained by Hamas after allegedly killing Gazan Jabir Al-Qeeq in July 2020. Shadi Al-Soufi reportedly fled to Sinai with the assistance of ISIS and returned to Gaza during the war.
Al-Qeeq was a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, in 2020. Israel had sentenced Al-Qeeq to life imprisonment and detained him for 15 years for killing Al-Soufi’s father during the First Intifada, accusing him of spying on Palestinians for Israel.
According to Gaza journalist and TNA contributor Mohammed Shehadeh, the two men formed gangs comprising over 200 armed criminals and ‘established a military compound’ in an Israeli-controlled zone of Gaza.
Shehadeh wrote on X: “This way Israel can absolve itself of responsibility for its deliberate starvation policy in Gaza and say “look, we’re letting aid in, it’s Hamas’ fault that food doesn’t reach people”.
It is not clear whether the two were killed in the Hamas ambush on Tuesday.
Combating insecurity amid Israel’s genocide
Amid the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza, the security operation for the Hamas-run interior ministry was not easy to carry out, mainly because the Israeli army has and continues to attack police and security officers who tried to secure the trucks loaded with humanitarian aid.
“We discussed with other factions, and we got the green light to attack the looters whenever and wherever in Gaza,” the source explained, noting that “it will not be the last one, but it is the beginning of a comprehensive security operation that has been planned for a long time.”
Separately speaking to TNA, Palestinians in Gaza said that they witnessed for the first-ever time since the war erupted on the coastal enclave several gunmen who covered their faces, apparently mostly from al-Qassam Brigades, attack the looters in the streets.
“It is a very important step to eliminate the phenomenon of truck theft that has greatly affected society and exacerbated famine in the southern Gaza Strip,” Salem Abdullah, a displaced man in Khan Younis, remarked to TNA.
The incident occurred two days after these gangs seized dozens of aid trucks loaded with flour.
“We have repeatedly demanded the need to combat such gangs and put an end to them to allow us to find some food for our children,” Mohammed Kamal, a displaced man in Deir al-Balah, said to TNA.
On Monday, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) announced that a convoy of 109 trucks was subjected to violent looting on 16 November after entering Gaza. At least 97 trucks were lost as the drivers were forced at gunpoint to unload the aid.
Due to the severe shortage of flour, all eight UN-supported bakeries in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis in Gaza have been operating at reduced capacity for weeks, and many have been forced to close completely, according to UNRWA.
UNRWA warned that the severe food shortage will worsen, endangering the lives of more than two million people who depend on humanitarian aid to survive without immediate intervention.
It added that the Israeli authorities continue to ignore their legal obligations under international law to ensure that the basic needs of the population are met and to facilitate the safe delivery of aid. The UN organisation also indicated that Israel’s responsibilities include ensuring that essential aid reaches the population even after the trucks enter the Gaza Strip.
Israel unleashed a more restrictive siege on the entirety of the coastal enclave just after the war begin in October 2023.
Israeli army actively involved Gaza’s famine
On Sunday, the Israeli daily Haaretz revealed that the Israeli army is involved in Gaza’s famine by allowing armed clans in Gaza to loot aid trucks entering the Strip and collect “protection money” from them.
Haaretz said that the armed attacks are carried out under the supervision of the Israeli army and hundreds of meters away from its forces, as the gunmen stop the trucks using temporary checkpoints, or by shooting at the tyres of the trucks.
Haaretz quoted sources in international relief organisations as saying that gunmen linked to two well-known clans in the Rafah area systematically prevent a large portion of the trucks entering through the Kerem Shalom crossing from reaching their targets, while the Israeli army deliberately turns a blind eye to their actions.
It said that the gunmen stopped the trucks using temporary checkpoints or by shooting at the trucks’ tyres, then demanded that the drivers pay a “transit fee” of US$5,000. If the driver refuses the request, he risks having the truck hijacked or seized and its contents stolen.
The area where the aid is being looted is monitored by the Israeli Air Force, using a drone, according to the newspaper, noting that soldiers and commanders working in Gaza say they are well aware of the looting incidents, and confirm that they have become common.
According to Haaretz, the problem of armed gangs has worsened since the army took control of the Rafah crossing, which until then was the main crossing for goods entering Gaza. Since the crossing on the border between Gaza and Egypt was closed, most goods have entered the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing.
Starvation haunts Gaza
After long hours of walking in the Deir al-Balah market in central Gaza, Mohammed Ayoub, a 35-year-old displaced man, eventually bought a few tomatoes, aubergines and bread at “exorbitant” prices for his five children.
“For more than a month, we have been suffering from a shortage of food supplies and goods due to the monopoly of merchants and the lack of supervision,” Ayoub, who was forced to flee from Gaza City to Deir al-Balah a year ago, told TNA.
“Over months, we saw the trucks of goods and vegetables enter southern Gaza, but none of them reached the markets but remained in the merchants’ warehouses so that they could manipulate the prices,” the young man claimed.
“Day by day, the prices are rising crazily, which deprives us of buying the basic needs for our children […] Really, I thought many times of suicide and ending my life to get rid of the suffering,” he said.
Roqaia Abdu, another displaced woman in Khan Younis, is unable to cook for her six children because of the lack of the ingredients of the meals.
“For more than four months, we have not eaten any meat. My husband cannot buy it and my children lost a lot of their weight because of starvation,” the 38-year-old woman said.
“We are living in a real famine and no one cares about us. I do not believe that this operation will have a positive impact at present because the crisis is primarily political, and the Israeli occupation is increasing its use of the weapon of famine against us. It will not end until a ceasefire is reached,” the woman said.
The World Food Programme (WFP) warned in a recent statement that the food crisis in Gaza caused by Israel could turn into a full-blown famine.
“We have about 94,000 tons of food in Jordan and Egypt, enough to feed one million people for four months, but it cannot bring it into Gaza because the available entry points are few and some are unsafe,” the WFP added.
