GazaIn its ongoing war on the Gaza Strip, Israel has introduced a new weapon against the besieged population, which is providing the ideal environment for stealing relief aid.
In systematic ways, Israel encourages armed gangs to steal trucks as soon as they leave the relief crossings, and prevents the Palestinian police and private guard companies from protecting them by targeting them directly.
This policy, which adds a new and enormous burden to the people of Gaza, raises questions about the occupation’s intentions and goals in deepening the humanitarian catastrophe.
This report reviews the routes that relief convoys follow within the Gaza Strip, the points where they are robbed, and Israel’s role in facilitating their robbery.
What is the truth about stealing humanitarian aid?
Since the beginning of the war, Israel has prevented the entry of aid and goods, causing starvation of the population in all areas of the Gaza Strip.
When Israel decided to allow the entry of small amounts of aid in response to international pressure, it worked, in return, to facilitate its theft by intensively targeting the Palestinian police officers guarding it.
However, the efforts of the police, despite being constantly targeted, succeeded in preventing the theft of aid to a large extent, and this situation continued until Israel occupied Rafah in May 2024.
How did the occupation of Rafah affect the spread of aid theft?
The city of Rafah is located in the far south of the Gaza Strip, and there is the Palestinian part of the Kerem Shalom crossing (east of the city), through which the majority of aid and goods enter.
Following the occupation of the city, Israel allowed thieves to form organized gangs in the remote eastern area of Rafah, adjacent to the border fence, which work to steal aid after it leaves the crossing under the direct protection of the occupation army.
The Palestinian police are unable to confront the thieves, as they are unable to work inside the city of Rafah due to the presence of the occupation army.
What is Israel’s role in the aid theft?
Eyewitnesses residing in the area separating the cities of Rafah and Khan Yunis, who spoke to Tel Aviv Tribune Net, confirm that Israel allows thieves to be present with their weapons in eastern Rafah, which it classifies as a “dangerous combat” zone, in addition to the fact that it is located within the “buffer zone” that extends about one kilometer. , within the territory of the Gaza Strip, and the presence of any Palestinian near it is prohibited.
Witnesses stated that Israel directly and “deadly” targets any security personnel seeking to secure aid from theft in that area, and at the same time, it prevents personnel affiliated with private security companies contracted by international relief organizations from carrying firearms.
What information is available about aid theft gangs?
Aid is stolen either by armed gangs, or by independent individuals who “work in an unorganized, improvised manner,” searching for a bag of flour or a food parcel.
During the past months, criminal gangs have formed, the most famous of which is a criminal formation headed by an escaped prisoner named Yasser Abu Shabab.
Elements of these gangs are located specifically in the eastern region of Rafah, close to the border fence.
What routes do aid trucks take?
First: In the south of the Gaza Strip, where most aid trucks come from the Kerem Shalom crossing, east of Rafah, and take two lanes, the first is via Salah al-Din Street (central Rafah) towards the north.
The trucks begin their journey along this route from a street called locally “Jakar” about 300 meters away from the border fence (directing from south to north), then they deviate towards another street heading west, and it is called “Al-Kakar”, before heading towards Salah al-Din Street, heading towards Khan Yunis and the center of the sector.
As for the second path, it heads west towards the sea through a street that extends parallel to the border strip with Egypt (Philadelphia axis), before heading north through Al-Rashid Al-Sahel Street.
Second: North of the Gaza Strip, where aid trucks enter through the Zikim crossing, a new crossing established by Israel during the current war. It is located in the far north of the Gaza Strip. They head south towards the “Rashid” coastal road, reaching the port of Gaza, then head east towards the UNRWA warehouses. Refugees west of Gaza City.
What is the role of the Kissufim crossing in bringing in aid?
On November 12, 2024, the occupation army announced the opening of the Kissufim crossing, located between Khan Yunis and the central Gaza Strip, for the passage of humanitarian aid trucks into the Gaza Strip, in response to the American threat to reduce military support if the volume of aid and food supplies to Gaza is not increased.
But Israel was actually content with bringing in limited amounts of aid through the Kissufim crossing, before stopping that.
Where is aid stolen?
First: Members of criminal gangs rob aid in the eastern Rafah area in 3 locations: Jakar Street, which is a street established by the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, for the purpose of monitoring the border strip with Israel, as it runs parallel to it from south to north, and is approximately 300 meters away from it. The trucks are stolen after they leave the Kerem Shalom crossing and start taking this road before heading west towards the city of Rafah.
The second location is Al-Karkar Street. This street heads west from “Jakar” Street, and trucks that pass through it are stolen one kilometer from the border fence.
As for the third and final location where aid is stolen in the eastern Rafah area, it is Salah al-Din Street. When trucks take Salah al-Din Street inside the city of Rafah, heading north towards Khan Yunis and the center of the Strip, gangs of thieves attack them, in an area only two kilometers away from the border fence. Latest estimate.
In parallel, aid is being stolen from unorganized people, who target trucks that choose to cross through the coastal Rashid Street coming from the Kerem Shalom crossing (using the road adjacent to the Philadelphia border axis with Egypt), in the area between Rafah and Khan Yunis.
Israel helps steal this aid by targeting its aircraft and its security personnel.
Second: According to Palestinian sources who spoke to Tel Aviv Tribune Net from the northern Gaza Strip (Gaza and the North Governorate), there are no organized gangs in the northern Gaza Strip that steal aid, and thefts by unorganized individuals are decreasing significantly.
How many martyrs were there to secure aid?
During the past months, private guard companies were established to secure aid, but they were also not spared from attacks by the occupation army, which during the war killed 736 police and aid personnel in 149 attacks carried out directly and deliberately, according to the latest update by the government media office in Gaza, issued yesterday. Wednesday.
How do thieves spend stolen goods?
According to many sources who spoke to Tel Aviv Tribune Net, members of armed gangs do not leave the eastern Rafah area, for fear of being targeted by the Palestinian police.
The thieves dispose of the stolen goods by selling them to merchants who enter their areas and buy them from them.
What is the impact of the theft of aid on the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip?
The theft of aid exacerbates the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, given the limited amount that Israel allows in, depriving hundreds of thousands of residents of access to food.
For example, the thefts disrupted an emergency program launched by UNRWA to distribute a bag of flour to every Palestinian family to combat “hunger.”
The theft of quantities of fuel also threatened to stop work in hospitals, intensive care departments, and dialysis centers, in addition to disrupting municipal water pumping to residents.