A U.N. memo obtained by The Post concluded that gangs “may be benefiting from a passive if not active benevolence” or “protection” from Israel’s military.
By Claire Parker, Loveday Morris, Hajar Harb, Miriam Berger and Hazem Balousha, The Washington PostAn Israeli security guard gestures to Egyptian truck drivers who arrived with humanitarian aid designated to be transported to Gaza at the Kerem Shalom border crossing in March.
An internal United Nations memo obtained by The Washington Post concluded last month that the gangs “may be benefiting from a passive if not active benevolence” or “protection” from the Israel Defense Forces. One gang leader, the memo said, established a “military like compound” in an area “restricted, controlled and patrolled by the IDF.”
This story is based on more than 20 interviews with representatives from a range of international aid organizations, Palestinian businessmen involved in the transport of goods, and witnesses to attacks on humanitarian convoys. Many spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid jeopardizing their access to Gaza or the safety of their staff. The Post also reviewed previously unpublished U.N.
As Washington urges Israel to allow more trucks into Gaza, looting has become the greatest obstacle to distributing the limited aid that does make it in, according to a U.S. official, who added that Hamas is not behind the attacks - an assessment that was widely shared by those operating on the ground.
Tobacco became a dominant form of currency. A pack of 20 cigarettes now goes for around $1,000, according to Georgios Petropoulos, head of the Gaza office for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, calling it a “cancer” that’s “crept into our supply chain.” Gangs used to discard the aid on the road for civilians to pick over after locating stashed cigarettes, an international aid worker said. Now, “in a lot of cases they hijack the entire truck and take it to a warehouse” to resell food and other goods at exorbitant prices on the black market, they added.
Operating from the eastern part of Rafah, Abu Shabab leads an outfit of about “100 thugs” who attack trucks bringing food and other supplies into Gaza, Nahed Shuhaibar said. He described how the gang sets up berms to waylay convoys along the Israeli-controlled route from Kerem Shalom, where they wait with Kalashnikovs and other weapons.
In densely populated areas farther inside Gaza where Hamas security forces still operate, though with a greatly reduced footprint, they punish merchants who procure goods from Abu Shabab to sell at inflated prices, Nahed Shuhaibar said. “Things are under control” in areas Hamas controls, he said. “The only challenge facing us is the area where Abu Shabab is located” - a part of Gaza that is “under Israeli protection,” he added.
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