After aid trucks have been allowed in, there have been episodes of looting.
However, Israel’s military says it is not responsible for protecting the aid convoys, a premise with which former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert disagrees.
Already, the poorest Gazans scavenge for food in garbage dumps as pitifully little aid gets across the Israeli border.
“It is up to the state of Israel to ensure that aid reaches people in need,” Touma said.
Local Gaza police used to protect the convoys in Gaza, but since February Israeli soldiers have been targeting them, accusing them of links with Hamas.
Tel Aviv — In desperation, hungry Gazans have been waiting for more food to arrive from Israel in the besieged territory for the past year. Looting incidents have occurred since aid trucks were permitted entry.
Convoys are now being intercepted by armed criminal gangs.
When over 100 trucks were attacked on Saturday, truck driver Abu Ahmad was involved in the worst incident to date. He said to CBS News that the gangs would kill any driver who didn’t stop after shooting through the windows of his truck.
Ahmad claimed an Israeli drone observed the entire attack and that Israeli tanks were in the area.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert disagrees with the military’s assertion that it is not in charge of guarding the aid convoys.
“The government of Israel is opposed to it. They want to punish the Palestinians because the fundamental idea is that all Gazans support the terrorists, so they should all be punished,” Olmert told CBS News. He also said that if the Israeli army can construct roads in Gaza, it should be “capable of making the necessary logistical arrangements” to offer aid to the local population.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants Thursday for Mohammed Deif, a Hamas leader whom Israel says was killed in an airstrike in July, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Among the accusations were “crimes against humanity” and “waging war by starvation.”. “,”.
Netanyahu referred to the accusations as “antisemitic,” while the White House stated that it “fundamentally rejected” the ruling.
Already, as pathetically little aid crosses the Israeli border, the poorest Gazans scrounge for food in trash dumps. A large portion of what does enter Gaza is taken at gunpoint, worsening the humanitarian situation in the region.
A spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Gaza, Juliette Touma, said it’s obvious who has to solve it.
“The state of Israel is responsible for making sure that aid reaches those who need it,” Touma stated. The occupying power is them. “,”.
Local Gaza police used to guard the convoys in Gaza, but Israeli soldiers have been attacking them since February on suspicion of having ties to Hamas.
Nearly two million Gazans are fighting for their lives in the interim.
“But it is atrocious and unacceptable to want to starve hundreds of thousands of people and to keep them from getting the food and water they need to survive,” Olmert said, adding, “and I believe that the Israeli government is creating something that may come back to haunt us in a very, very painful way.”.
