How Israel is aiding armed gangs in Gaza to sow societal collapse
Palestinians wait to receive food distributed by an aid organization in Deir Al Balah, Gaza on 18 November 2024
Muhammad Shehada reports in The New Arab on 26 November, 2024:
Israel is aiding criminal gangs in Rafah, some of who are affiliated with the Islamic State (IS), to loot humanitarian aid under military protection, sources in Gaza, including civil society leaders, police officials, and a UN official, have told The New Arab.
While refusing to intervene against these armed criminals, Israeli forces are opening fire against local policemen attempting to prevent the looting.
Sources in Gaza say the rise of organised gangs is Israel’s latest pretext to prevent the entry of humanitarian aid and cause societal collapse, all while blaming Palestinians for their own suffering. The Israeli government is also using this lawlessness to promote the idea of allowing foreign private security companies to operate in Gaza under a ‘humanitarian guise’.
The local police along with militants from Hamas and other armed factions have now declared war on criminal gangs to restore some public order.
Israeli-sponsored looting in broad daylight
On 18 November, UN agencies finally managed to obtain entry for 109 trucks into southern Gaza after months of extreme Israeli restrictions that brought Gazans’ daily food intake down to 187-454 grams per person in October. Before Israel’s war at least 500 trucks were entering Gaza per working day, which was still not enough to meet the population’s daily needs.
This small humanitarian success didn’t last long, however, as 98 of the trucks were looted by armed gangs in an area declared a “kill zone” under full Israeli military control, where no Palestinian is allowed.
A UN official told The New Arab that two of the trucks attempted to make it to the northern half of Gaza after obtaining the necessary permits from Israel, only to be stopped by the Israeli army for five hours at the Netzarim Corridor, which led to them being looted. Both incidents exacerbated the levels of acute starvation present in southern Gaza and created giant queues outside the few remaining bakeries in Deir al-Balah.
Far from being exceptions, ambushes of humanitarian aid have become routine in Gaza. According to an internal UN memo, the Israeli army is providing “passive” and even “active” protection to armed criminal gangs who have established a “military-like compound” in an area of eastern Rafah “restricted, controlled and patrolled by the IDF”.
If a Palestinian civilian attempted to reach this area on foot he would instantly be targeted by Israeli drones or troops. In contrast, gang members are operating in the same zone with AK-47s and other weapons a mere 100 meters away from Israeli soldiers and tanks without being harmed.
Two sources in Gaza’s police force and a civil society leader who spoke to The New Arab said that the Israeli army never opens fire on armed gang members looting trucks at gunpoint, but targets local policemen attempting to stop the looting.
Another way local sources say Israel is encouraging looting is by banning cigarettes from entering Gaza but simultaneously allowing them to be smuggled inside the contents of aid trucks. This has led prices for a single pack to skyrocket to over $500, incentivising criminal gangs to loot aid trucks and scatter their contents looking for hidden cigarettes.
Israel could easily prevent this by simply allowing cigarettes to enter Gaza legally or thwarting smuggling attempts. A senior EU official told The New Arab that the Israeli military thoroughly inspects the contents of each truck going into Gaza and would many times prevent a truck from going in if they find a “nail clipper or a tent in the wrong colour”.
Cigarette smuggling in aid trucks is therefore seen as a deliberate attempt to incite lawlessness.
Two warlords lead the gangs
Two wanted criminals are thought to be behind the main gangs looting most of the aid in Gaza, police sources told The New Arab.
Together, they have set up organised gangs of around 200 people and have their own warehouses where they store looted goods and later sell them for profit to local traders.