Looting is undermining Gaza’s food supply, despite Israel’s pledge to fight the gangs

Israel has failed to crack down on armed gangs attacking food convoys in Gaza, despite pledging to do so in mid-October to help avoid famine in the Palestinian enclaveaccording to three U.N. and U.S. officials familiar with the matter.

The commitment, made behind closed doors, appeared to be a breakthrough as the international community sought to enlist Israel’s support to improve the dire humanitarian situation in the war-ravaged territory since the war began in October 2023, three senior officials said. said

But the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) remained focused on fighting Hamas and took only limited action against several gangs operating in parts of Gaza under Israeli control, according to three officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information. information

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office referred questions to the military about aid commitments and operations in Gaza. An IDF representative declined to comment on what was agreed in October and what was done to curb the looting.

“Israel has taken significant steps to allow the maximum possible amount of aid to Gaza,” the spokesman said.

now, U.N. and U.S. officials say gang violence has gotten out of controldestroying the supply lines on which most of Gaza’s 2.1 million civilians depend for survival.

In October, $9.5 million worth of food and other goods – nearly a quarter of all humanitarian aid sent to Gaza that month – was lost to attacks and looting, according to a previously unknown tally of incidents compiled by UN aid agencies. organizations

The November robberies are still being assessed, but preliminary data suggest it was much worse, two people familiar with the situation said.

In mid-November, a convoy of 109 trucks chartered by UN agencies was attacked minutes after the IDF was ordered to leave a border crossing in southern Gaza overnight, hours ahead of schedule, according to five people familiar with the matter. with the incident including the two present.

The IDF, which was stationed nearby, did not intervene, these five people said. An IDF spokesman declined to comment on the incident.

Georgios Petropoulos, coordinator of the UN’s emergency response unit, OCHA, said that humanitarian organizations have not been able to solve the problem of lawlessness on their own.

“It has become too big for humanitarians to solve,” he told reporters after returning from Gaza on Thursday.

The US State Department declined to comment on Israel’s October pledge, but said looting remains a major obstacle to aid delivery.

“We continue to press Israel on the need for increased security to ensure convoys of critical humanitarian aid reach Palestinian civilians throughout Gaza,” the spokesman said.