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Israel’s strategy of sponsoring thugs to seize aid ‘perpetuates chaos’: Gaza’s Interior Ministry
Gaza’s Ministry of Interior and National Security has issued a statement accusing Israel’s military of pursuing a policy of targeting its staff “carrying out their duty of securing aid trucks distributed by international organisations, preventing them from reaching those in need safely”.
It also accused Israeli forces of sponsoring “networks of thieves and thugs to seize control of aid trucks, depriving more than two million citizens of safe access and perpetuating famine in the Strip”.
Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of hijacking aid trucks throughout the Gaza Strip, blaming the starvation of Palestinians on the group. An internal Israeli army investigation found these claims to be untrue.
“This is a blatant attempt by the occupation to absolve itself of legal responsibility for using starvation as a weapon in times of war,” the statement read.
This strategy forces Palestinians to travel long distances for aid, putting themselves at great risk, the statement says, adding that this has led to the “destruction of some of the aid supplies due to stampede and overcrowding”.
“Meanwhile, the occupation directly targets them and commits massacres, killing dozens daily near the routes leading to the entry of aid.
Israeli army strengthens presence along Khan Younis military corridor
The Israeli army reports that it is adding more invading troops to conduct ground operations along the so-called Magen Oz Corridor, the military route created to separate the eastern and western parts of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
Soldiers from the Kfir Brigade, under command of the 36th Division, have been working to “further solidify operational control” in the, the army said in a statement.
It claimed that its soldiers “apprehended terrorists deep within Khan Younis” while also locating and dismantling an underground tunnel route in the area.
Aid deliveries to Gaza far from sufficient
We are not seeing any meaningful improvement on the ground here in Deir el-Balah. Israel’s aid announcement has not translated into genuine access for people. Yes, some aid trucks are trickling in, but that’s a fraction of what’s needed.
The United Nations says that Gaza needs at least 600 aid trucks on a daily basis to improve living conditions, but what has been allowed in, on average, was 67 aid trucks, which is nowhere near enough to meet the extensive needs of Gaza’s population.
Meanwhile, we are witnessing an absolute lawlessness with no central authority or secure distribution mechanisms. Desperate men with weapons have continued to loot aid trucks.
Some of them are affiliated with local groups. Others are men who have lost everything, and now they started to be extremist figures in the Palestinian communities.
The bodies of Palestinians killed while trying to reach aid trucks entering northern Gaza are prepared for burial at the morgue of al-Shifa Hospital
