Under attack from all sides, armed clans try to protect aid coming into Gaza

Egypt Independent

11 hours ago

Securing the trucks carrying aid into Gaza is a tight balancing act for the Abu Mughsaib clan. Getting too close to the Israeli military checkpoints can turn deadly. But staying too far away gives looters a chance to get to the precious cargo first.
'This is the biggest challenge we face. We cannot approach army positions any closer, as doing so would put us at risk,' a member of the group that acts as a protection for the trucks told CNN. Two weeks ago, Hamas killed one of his team members and last month two were injured by Israeli fire, he said.
As law and order further breaks down and famine takes hold across Gaza, agencies trying to get aid to warehouses and distribution points in the territory rely on groups such as Abu Mughsaib.
'Once the trucks enter (Gaza), we receive them before they are intercepted by looters or overwhelmed by crowds,' said the man, who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons.
'As for our weapons, they are simple family-owned firearms, and we also carry sticks and batons.'
Aid convoys are increasingly being attacked by armed looters seeking to resell the aid at exorbitant prices, as well as crowds of starving people who are just hoping to feed their families.
The UN said this week that it was still struggling to deliver aid to where it is needed most, and blamed Israel for delaying convoys by making the procedures too cumbersome.
Palestinians hold onto an aid truck returning to Gaza City on July 22.
Jehad Alshrafi/AP/File
While the World Food Program said on Sunday that Israel has agreed to streamline the process and allow the use of alternative routes, the UN says a large proportion of trucks are still being blocked.
Faced with allegations of purposefully starving the Gaza population, Israel has in turn blamed the UN, saying it is not distributing the supplies properly, and Hamas, which it accused of stealing aid.
In the absence of official security, the Abu Mughsaib clan and other groups are stepping in.
A member of the clan told CNN that international organizations including the World Health Organization had asked for security in delivering their aid.
'After we succeeded, our family-based group was formally established to serve that purpose,' the clan member told CNN, adding that the family is part of the Tarabin tribe, a prominent Bedouin family.
'We coordinate with a few other families and handle the securing of aid deliveries,' he said, adding that unlike other groups, the Abu Mughsaib are not working with either Israel or Hamas.
A spokesperson for WHO said the organization works with 'various community elders' and the health ministry in Gaza to ensure that 'when critical aid is passing through… communities are informed and understand the items are lifesaving medical aid.'
Palestinians carry aid supplies which they received from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in the central Gaza Strip on July 31.
Reuters
Accompanying the trucks is a risky business. The clan sent one video to CNN, which it said shows its members escorting a convoy of 10 trucks delivering aid. It shows armed men – some of whom are masked and some wearing high-vis vests – sat on top of the vehicles speeding along the Salah al-Din road in Deir al-Balah, shooting in the air.
People can be seen running alongside the road, but nobody tries to intercept the convoy.
The clan also said it has partnered with a third-party transport company in Gaza, which it claimed moves aid for humanitarian groups including the World Central Kitchen.
A spokesperson for the World Central Kitchen said the organization does not work with the Mugaiseb Clan.
The clan member who spoke to CNN said that while they do receive payments from some groups, they sometimes provide protection for free.
'Like with the World Health Organization, when it involves medicine or infant formula, we work on a voluntary basis. For private sector shipments and commercial goods, we are paid in return for the risks we take. Some organizations also provide small payments to cover fuel, ammunition, and similar costs,' he said.
The UN said that the time-consuming approval process to get aid into Gaza often leaves trucks stuck in one location for a long time, attracting large crowds of people.
Olga Cherevko, from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), was accompanying one such convoy as it tried to deliver aid from the Kerem Shalom border crossing earlier this week.
She said the convoy was held for two and half hours at an Israeli checkpoint. 'By the time we were allowed to pass, we were met on the road by tens of thousands of hungry and desperate people who directly offloaded everything from the backs of our trucks,' Cherevko said.
According to its own data, the UN and its partners have offloaded 2,134 trucks of aid at Gaza crossings since May 19, when Israel partially lifted a blockade that was imposed in March.
While the UN said a vast majority of them, some 2,010 trucks, had been collected, only 260 arrived at their intended destinations. More than 1,750 were intercepted – either peacefully by hungry people or forcefully by armed gangs.
Israel has accused Hamas of stealing aid, but an internal US government review found no evidence of widespread theft.
More than 1,060 people have been killed and 7,200 injured while trying to access food in Gaza since May, according to the United Nations. Most died in the vicinity of distribution points set up by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a controversial private venture backed by the United States and Israel.
Palestinians carry aid parcels west of Beit Lahia in Gaza on July 29.
Omar al-Qatta/AFP/Getty Images/File
'Worst case scenario of famine'
Far too little aid is reaching those most in need, according to humanitarian agencies.
Eyad al-Masri, a 31-year-old father of two with a third child on the way, used to buy food from people who got it at the notoriously dangerous aid distribution points. The prices were high, but still lower than at the market.
But on Saturday, with no money left, he decided to go to the point near Netzarim in central Gaza himself.
His is a common story. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a UN-backed initiative said Tuesday that 'worst-case scenario of famine' is unfolding in Gaza.
The health ministry in the territory also said on Tuesday that 900,000 children are going hungry, and 70,000 already show signs of malnutrition.
'I felt I had no other choice,' al-Masri told CNN. 'When the trucks arrived, I was shocked by the number of armed thieves, some carrying knives, others with firearms, operating in large groups.'
Al-Masri managed to get a box of food, and was overjoyed at the prospect of giving his children and pregnant wife at least some of what they so desperately needed. 'But as I was leaving the area, a man armed with a knife came at me and tried to take the box by force,' Al-Masri said.
He offered to split the contents, but the attacker insisted on taking the entire thing. 'When I refused, he stabbed me multiple times in the head,' he said.
Running after the thief, al-Masri didn't realize he was bleeding. He was focused on getting at least some of the food back – which he eventually managed with the help of others.
'There are starving people who come to these distribution areas, but they can't get anything because of the armed groups,' he said.
The Abu Mughsaib clan member said attacks against his group are coming from all sides – from other families, organized gangs of looters, Hamas and the Israeli army.
He said that in July, a member of the escort team was shot dead by Hamas, who later said the killing was a mistake.
Palestinians mourn outside the Al-Shifa Hospital morgue, where the bodies of people killed while seeking aid the previous day were brought, in Gaza City on July 31.
Bashar Taleb/AFP/Getty Images
'A month ago, (the Israeli army) opened fire on a vehicle carrying members of our escort team, injuring two of our men,' he added.
He added, however, that the group will continue to provide security for as long as necessary.
'Vulnerable people urgently need food and medicine. We are not an alternative to any authority, nor do we aim to replace anyone,' he said.
But he admitted the group's power only goes as far. 'We are under strict instructions not to harm any civilians. … Even if they manage to seize a truck in such cases, we let them take it without confronting them.'
CLARIFICATION: This story has been updated to reflect the World Central Kitchen's statement that it does not work with the Mughsaib clan.