After a series of Israeli attacks on members of the Hamas-run civilian police force in Gaza, officers withdrew earlier this month from the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel. Since their departure, the trucks have been attacked in the crossing's holding area, according to UN Humanitarian Coordinator James McGoldrick. He added that the drivers were shot at, attacked with axes and box cutters, and their windows were smashed.
Police have also stopped serving as security guards for aid convoys, paralyzing deliveries in the enclave, with some hungry families resorting to eating grass and animal feed, and beneficiaries selling stolen food at astronomical prices on the black market, humanitarian officials said.
US Ambassador David Satterfield, appointed by President Biden to coordinate humanitarian aid to Gaza, said, “With the police escort gone, it has become almost impossible for the United Nations or anyone else… to safely transport aid to Gaza due to criminal gangs.” Friday.
“Due to the attacks on UN convoys and others, the value of things has increased, which only feeds a vicious cycle to enable more criminal activities,” he added.
Satterfield said that Israeli forces killed up to nine Palestinian police officers involved in protecting aid convoys, including a commander. He said that the police included “members of Hamas,” but also people with no political affiliation and remnants of Palestinian Authority forces.
In response to a question about whether police guarding aid convoys were a target, the Israeli army said: “The Israeli army is working to dismantle Hamas’ military capabilities. “Elements participating in military activity may be targeted.”
Three police officers were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Rafah on February 10, according to Rafah governorate police and witnesses, as they drove to monitor food aid distribution in Tal al-Sultan, west of Rafah.
Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), said that eight more Palestinian police officers were killed during the past week. The Washington Post was unable to independently confirm these numbers.
The United Nations is trying to obtain guarantees from Israel that the police will not be attacked, according to McGoldrick.
The slowdown in aid deliveries comes amid growing warnings from humanitarian experts that Gaza's 2.2 million people are on the brink of famine. The situation is more dangerous in the northern Gaza Strip, where relief organizations withdrew months ago, and an estimated 300,000 civilians remain.
One in six children in the north suffer from acute malnutrition, according to a WHO nutritional analysis, with 3% of these suffering from “severe wasting” – putting them at risk of death unless they receive urgent medical treatment.
Ted Chaiban, UNICEF's deputy director for humanitarian action, warned this week that Gaza “is about to witness an explosion in preventable child deaths.”
All aid entering Gaza must first undergo inspection by Egyptian and Israeli officials. Approved shipments are transported to the unloading area at the Kerem Shalom crossing, then transferred to Gaza trucks before exiting the blue gates of the crossing.
“Many of these trucks, even before they reach 200 metres, are stopped by cars and then attacked and looted,” McGoldrick said. “We are fortunate to have some materials delivered to the warehouses.” Getting food from there to the north is more difficult.
He added that convoys risk being overrun during the journey, describing a driver he met on a trip to Gaza this month who lost his voice due to screaming at thieves: “This is for the people of Gaza. This is for Gaza City, not here,” he said.
“It didn't make any difference,” McGoldrick said.
The World Food Program announced that it was forced to stop delivering food to the north this week, citing “complete chaos and violence due to the collapse of civil order.” Tamara Al-Rifai, Director of UNRWA External Relations, said that UNRWA had not been able to deliver any shipments to northern Gaza since January 23.
The agency and its partners are pressuring Israel to open other crossings to increase the flow of aid.
At a UN Security Council session on Thursday, Tor Wennesland, a Norwegian diplomat and UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, told members that “there is no time to waste.” He recorded “severe shortages of food, water, fuel and medicine” and “the almost complete collapse of law and order.”
“Keeping Gaza on a drip-fed line not only deprives desperate residents of life-saving support, but also leads to more chaos on the ground and hinders further delivery of humanitarian aid,” he said, calling for an immediate ceasefire.
“The idea that a ‘humanitarian truce’ is needed for aid to enter Gaza is a complete misnomer,” Elon Levy, an Israeli government spokesman, said on Wednesday on X. He added: “Aid is already there at home. The United Nations must distribute it.”
“We are ready and willing to facilitate the entry of dozens if not hundreds of trucks every day,” Colonel Moshe Tetro, head of the Israeli Coordination and Liaison Department in Gaza, told reporters this week.
But McGoldrick said the drop in the number of trucks is also due in part to routine protests by Israelis at Kerem Shalom. The demonstrators pledged to close the crossing until Hamas released the remaining Israeli hostages, and they succeeded in closing it a few days later.
“If there's turmoil on this side, or there's turmoil on the other side where we are because of insecurity, the outcome is the same: We're not going to get things out the door,” McGoldrick said.
On Thursday, protesters in Kerem Shalom set up a giant bouncy castle at the entrance through which aid trucks are supposed to pass. In a video clip early Thursday, distributed via WhatsApp, organizer Youssef de Brasser, 22, urged others to join him.
“Get ready, there will be inflatables, cotton candy, popcorn and stuffed animals,” he said. “We are preparing for the people of Israel, come.”
On the other side of the border, Palestinian families described their intense struggle to survive.
Mahmoud Ibrahim, whose family lives in Sheikh Radwan, north of Gaza City, said that he used to give his four children bread made from barley that was previously used as animal feed, but even that amount is running out. He also looked for hibiscus, a leafy green plant that grows wild in the area. “I've been living on it for the past three days because it was the only option available,” he said.
Haya Marwan, 23 years old, said that her family in Jabalia refugee camp in the north of the country also lives on khubiza and other edible plants. She said theft was rampant, with empty homes being stripped away.
“The situation has descended into complete chaos,” Marwan said, adding that the gunmen threaten anyone carrying food. “I heard about shooting by bandits,” she said. A bag of flour that used to cost $8 now costs about $275.
“People have been left to fend for themselves,” she added. “While we are still breathing, we are far from living.”
Balosha reported from Amman, Jordan and DeYoung reported from Washington. Heba Farouk Mahfouz in Cairo and Kate Brown in Washington contributed to this report.
