Mass looting of aid trucks worsens food crisis in Gaza

GAZA STRIP

A man transports a box of humanitarian aid, supplied by the World Food Program, back to his home in the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on Nov. 18, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Hamas militant group. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)

The United Nations has suffered its worst loss of humanitarian aid in Gaza as desperately needed food was stolen from 98 out of 109 trucks over the weekend, worsening the food crisis in the Palestinian territory.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the organization doesn’t know who hijacked the trucks. “When armed people try to take control of a vehicle and goods, we’re not asking questions,” he told reporters.

Only 11 trucks made it to a warehouse in the city of Deir al-Balah, making this theft “the worst in terms of volume” during the 13-month war in Gaza, he said.

As for the rest of the vehicles, the U.N. no longer has control of the trucks which suffered “severe damage,” he said, adding that the organization has no information about their drivers.

Almost the entire population of around 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza relies on international aid for survival, with doctors and aid groups saying that malnutrition is rampant.

Dujarric said the convoy was instructed to depart from Kerem Shalom border crossing on Nov. 16 morning “via an alternate, unfamiliar route.” He said the trucks were stolen not far from the Karem Abu Salem crossing and Gaza's old airport.

“The best protection for us is for people to know that aid will come in every day at massive levels,” he said.

Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon blamed Hamas for stealing the aid trucks and holding the drivers at gunpoint.

[HH] Food prices soar in central Gaza after looting

A crowd of people waited outside a shuttered bakery in the central city of Deir al-Balah following the looting.

A woman who had been displaced from Gaza City, identifying herself as Umm Shadi, said the price of flour had climbed to 400 shekels (over $100) a bag, if it can even be found.

Nora Muhanna, another woman displaced from Gaza City, said she was leaving empty-handed after waiting five hours for a bag of bread for her children.

“From the beginning, there are no goods, and even if they are available, there is no money,” she said.

Meanwhile, Gaza's Hamas-run Interior Ministry said at least 20 people were killed in an operation targeting "gangs" that looted the trucks.

"More than 20 members of gangs involved in stealing aid trucks were killed in a security operation carried out by security forces in cooperation with tribal committees," the ministry said in a statement.

"Today's security operation will not be the last," it said, adding that "the phenomenon of truck thefts... has severely impacted society and led to signs of famine in southern Gaza.”