Israeli army enables criminal looting of aid shipments and worsens starvation
"These gangsters act, humanitarian officials and Palestinian transporters allege, with the tacit permission of the Israeli military: what a UN memo seen by the Financial Times called “the passive, if not active benevolence” of the Israel Defense Forces.
Led by escaped convicts and formed along family lines, the heavily-armed gangs defy Gazan authorities and operate freely along the border, a restricted Israeli military zone.
They stockpile the looted goods in open-air headquarters — seemingly overlooked by Israeli surveillance drones — and resell the supplies via middlemen to destitute Palestinians at prohibitive prices."
Armed thieves who raid UN trucks are acting with Israel’s tacit support, officials say
www.ft.com
"The FT spoke to more than 20 people about the rise of systematic aid theft in the IDF-controlled zone, including Palestinian truck drivers, traders, humanitarian groups, security providers and UN officials in Gaza, many of whom had experienced the looting first hand. They described how criminal networks had replaced individual looters, operating deep in the enclave’s south-eastern borderlands, beyond the reach of Gaza’s remaining police in what is known as a “red zone” to most Palestinians because of the IDF presence.
Aid deliveries have plummeted since Israel’s invasion of Rafah in south Gaza in May, which led to an increase in looting, and hit all-time lows in November.
The shortages have made even basic supplies increasingly valuable targets for theft. Up to 30 per cent of aid entering the enclave is stolen, according to an estimate by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. In last week’s armed robbery, 97 of 109 UN trucks were lost."
