As if the situation in Gaza could not get any worse, the 

 now reports that “gangsters” are blocking aid distribution and stealing supplies meant for those in need.

Journalists Yolande Knell and Rushdi Abualouf claim thefts by criminal gangs operating in Gaza are becoming “increasingly violent”, with aid workers and local residents claiming that such gangs have become “the main obstacle to distributing supplies in the south.”

What’s more, those on the ground claim the thefts are taking place in view of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

Israel has been bombing Gaza since the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. Ground operations in the 365km2 territory were launched by Israel on 13 October, with a full invasion following on 27 October.

Aid workers in Gaza claim the damage after 13 months of war has been “apocalyptic”, with more than two-thirds of buildings destroyed or damaged. Aid to Gaza comes from a number of international organisations, including 

. According to the UN's Human Rights Office, 

 of Israel's attacks between November 2023 and April 2024 were children, mostly between the ages of 5 and 9, while 26% of victims were adult women.

, 130,000 children under the age of 10 have been deprived of food and medicine during a siege of Northern Gaza that began at the start of October.

As a result of Israel’s attacks in the area, last week the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

The looters intercepting aid allegedly hail from notorious Gazan crime families, and had at one point blocked the main Salah al-Din Road leading from Israel’s Kerem Shalom crossing point for two days, with lorries trying to enter the distribution site being fired upon.

“This isn’t desperate people looking to feed themselves or their families. It is pure organised crime, by people who are heavily armed and making a lot of money. They are taking supplies paid for by member states. It’s a disgrace,” one senior aid official told the Guardian earlier this month.

Sam Rose, deputy director of Unrwa, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, in Gaza told the BBC that this sort of conflict is “inevitable after 13 months of intense conflict – things fall apart.”

“It is tactical, systematic, criminal looting,” added Georgios Petropoulos, head of the UN’s humanitarian office, Ocha, in Gaza.

Reportedly, Israel’s targeting of Gazan police officers has been one factor leading to an increase in lawlessness. “Hamas’s security control dropped to under 20%,” the former head of Hamas police investigations told the BBC, adding: “We are working on a plan to restore control to 60% within a month.”

The BBC also reports that gangsters recently held up nearly 100 UN lorries in Gaza, while Hamas “sensing an opportunity to regain its faltering control – has reactivated a special security force to combat theft and banditry”.

Hamas has gained some support in the south of the country, but others in Gaza see them as muscling in on lucrative black markets. “Hamas is killing its competitors in stealing aid,” says Mohammed Diab, an activist in Deir al-Balah. “A big mafia has finished off a small mafia.”

Earlier this month, Jason Burke reported in the

 that the Hamas-run interior ministry claims to have carried out anti-gang operations in cooperation with tribal committees, killing at least 20 people in one such operation.

Regardless, shortages of food and medicine, along with spiralling prices, have led to fears of imminent famine. “My children are very hungry every day. We can’t afford the basics. It’s constant suffering. No food, no water, no cleaning products, nothing,” said Umm Ahmed, a mother in southern Gaza.

The majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million population has been displaced to the centre and south of the territory and will need further assistance as winter approaches. According to one UN aid official, delivering aid across Gaza has become more difficult than ever, with parts of the north almost impossible to reach.

“Prices of basic commodities are sky-rocketing – a bag of flour costs more than $200 (£160), a single egg $15 – or else goods are simply not available,” Sam Rose of Unrwa told the BBC.

The UN has reportedly been lobbying Israel to allow more aid lorries into Gaza, while Israel claims that the UN and other aid agencies have been unable to bring enough lorries to the crossings into Gaza to meet their goal of 350 aid deliveries per day.

Aid workers told the BBC that Israel, as an occupying power, should provide security. Meanwhile those on the ground claim thefts are happening under the noses of Israeli soldiers and surveillance drones, without military intervention.

Israeli authorities have also banned commercial imports, arguing that they benefit Hamas. Instead, stolen aid, including necessities like flour, are sold at hugely inflated prices on Gaza’s black market.

“The urgency of the crisis cannot be overstated; without immediate intervention, severe food shortages are set to worsen, further endangering the lives of over 2 million people who depend on humanitarian aid to survive,” Louise Wateridge, Unrwa’s senior emergency officer, told the BBC.

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