29 NGOs accuse Israeli army of looting humanitarian aid

The Israeli army is encouraging the looting of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip, in particular by attacking Palestinian police forces who are trying to combat it, 29 NGOs accused on Friday in a joint report.

“Looting is a recurring problem, a consequence of Israel's targeting of the remaining police forces in Gaza, the shortage of essential goods, the lack of roads and the closure of most crossing points, and the resulting despair of the population in these disastrous conditions,” said the NGOs, including Médecins du Monde, Oxfam and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).

The Israeli army is also “failing” to “prevent the looting of aid trucks and armed gangs from extorting protection money from humanitarian organizations,” the NGOs continue, citing in particular an article in the left-wing Israeli daily Haaretz, published on Monday and headlined: “Israeli army allows Gaza gangs to loot aid trucks and extort protection fees from drivers.”

In their report, the NGOs also claim that “in some cases,” as Palestinian police officers “tried to take action against looters, they were attacked by Israeli troops.”

“Many incidents take place near or under the eyes of Israeli forces, without them intervening, even when truckers ask for help.”

In the same report, the 29 NGOs denounced the “historically low” level of humanitarian aid authorized by Israel in the Gaza Strip.

According to these figures, an average of 37 humanitarian trucks entered the Palestinian territory every day in October, and 69 daily in the first week of November, compared with 500 before Oct. 7, 2023, the date of the start of the war triggered by the unprecedented attack on Israel by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.

The 29 NGOs also counted seven attacks on humanitarian personnel, most of them blamed on the Israeli army, between Oct. 10 and Nov. 7, during which 11 aid workers and three children were killed.

On Oct. 13, the United States again called on the Israeli authorities to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, failing which American military aid would be restricted.

“Not only has Israel failed to meet American criteria,” but its army has "at the same time taken measures that have considerably worsened the situation on the ground," particularly in northern Gaza.

The situation is “even more disastrous than it was a month ago,” pointed out eight NGOs, including Save the Children, Care and Mercy Corps, in a separate press release.