On 16 November 2024, the

Popular Forces The Popular Forces, also known as Anti-Terror Service, is a Palestinians, Palestinian Criticism of Hamas, anti-Hamas armed group active in the Gaza Strip and led by Yasser Abu Shabab. The Popular Forces are Israel, Israeli-backed and allegedly I ...

, an Israeli backed

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

accused of links with IS, raided a convoy of 109

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

aid trucks and looted 98 of them, near Israeli military installations at the

Kerem Shalom border crossing Kerem Shalom border crossing (, "Vineyard of Peace"; , ''Karem Abu Salem'') is a border crossing at the junction of two border sections: one between the Gaza Strip and Israel, and one between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. It is used by trucks car ...

in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

. The perpetrators, who according to a UN memo may have had "protection" from the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

, threw

grenades A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade g ...

and held truck drivers at gunpoint, forcing them to unload their aid. The incident further exacerbated the

Gaza humanitarian crisis Gaza may refer to: Places Palestine * Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea ** Gaza City, a city in the Gaza Strip ** Gaza Governorate, a governorate in the Gaza Strip Mandatory Palestine * Gaza Sub ...

caused by the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

. The incident has been described by the

UNRWA The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA, pronounced ) is a UN agency that supports the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees. UNRWA's mandate encompasses Palestinians who fl ...

as "one of the worst" incidents of its kind.

Background

The Gaza war and

Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip The restrictions on movement and goods in Gaza imposed by Israel date to the early 1990s. After Hamas took over in 2007, Israel significantly intensified existing movement restrictions and imposed a complete blockade on the movement of good ...

has resulted in a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. In early November 2024, a UN-backed panel warned that all of Gaza faced a risk of imminent famine between November 2024 and April 2025, with the north at most risk. The Israeli blockade severely restricted the entry of aid trucks into the Gaza Strip. Israeli targeting of civilian police officers who were responsible for guarding humanitarian convoys caused civil order to start collapsing by February 2024. This led to a rise in civilians and criminals raiding trucks and stealing supplies from the UN, slowing aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip. The Israeli seizure and closure of the

Rafah border crossing The Rafah Border Crossing () or Rafah Crossing Point is the sole crossing point between Egypt and Palestine's Gaza Strip. The Rafah crossing was opened by Israel after the Egypt–Israel peace treaty, 1979 peace treaty and remained under Isra ...

with

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

in May 2024, following the

Rafah offensive On 6 May 2024, Israel began a military offensive in and around the city of Rafah as part of Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip (2023–present), its invasion of the Gaza Strip during the Gaza war. In early May, as ceasefire negotiations stal ...

, significantly reduced the number of aid trucks entering Gaza and shifted most of the humanitarian traffic to the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom border crossing. Defense officials confirmed that the IDF is aware of aid convoy lootings, and at one point the Israeli government considered handing responsibility over distributing aid to local clans that played a role in looting convoys, even if some of them were involved in terrorism and affiliated with the

Islamic State The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS ...

. The United Nations and international humanitarian aid organizations reported losing $25.5 million worth of humanitarian goods to looting over the summer.

Incident

The raid took place during the night of 16 November 2024 near the heavily fortified Israeli-controlled Karem Shalom border crossing in the Gaza Strip. The aid convoy was scheduled to enter Gaza on 17 November, although the IDF instructed it to "depart at short notice via an unfamiliar route" on 16 November, giving the drivers 30 minutes to leave. The convoy was ambushed by armed gunmen during the night. The attackers shot the tires of trucks to halt and loot them. They also threw grenades and held truck drivers at gunpoint, some of whom were reportedly shot, forcing them to unload their aid. In previous incidents, gangs have also killed, beaten, and kidnapped the drivers and damaged their trucks. The UNRWA reported that looters shot at the trucks and detained a driver for hours, in addition to causing "injuries to transporters" and "extensive vehicle damage". The incident sparked confusion among local Palestinians, who expressed confusion over the fact that several armed men went undetected in a highly surveilled area. According to UNRWA spokeswoman, Louise Wateridge, only 11 out of 109 aid trucks made it to their destination in Gaza. She also reported that Israeli authorities "continue to restrict a huge amount of the humanitarian response" to Gaza. The UNRWA has yet to hear of the number of casualties and the types of injuries the truck drivers endured.

Perpetrators

The UNRWA stated that it was unable to identify the perpetrators due to the "total breakdown of civil order". According to an internal memo from the United Nations, the gangs in the Gaza Strip "may be benefiting from a passive if not active benevolence" or "protection" from the Israel Defense Forces. The UN also reported that a gang leader had established a "military-like compound" in an area that was "restricted, controlled, and patrolled by the IDF". An eyewitness reported seeing a gangster armed with an

AK-47 The AK-47, officially known as the Avtomat Kalashnikova (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is an assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms designer Mikhail Kala ...

just 100-meters from an Israeli

Merkava The Merkava (, , "chariot") is a series of main battle tanks used by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) which are the backbone of the Armored Corps (Israel), IDF's Armored Corps. Current iterations of this tank are considered broadly equivalent t ...

tank. The gangs have run cigarette-smuggling operations, and have been described as rivals of

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

. United Nations humanitarian coordinator for the

occupied Palestinian territories The occupied Palestinian territories, also referred to as the Palestinian territories, consist of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip—two regions of the former British Mandate for Palestine that have been occupi ...

, Muhannad Hadi, reported that Gaza is essentially lawless and that Israel is "the occupying power", and therefore the incident "is on them" for failing to ensure the area's protection and security. Contrary to Israeli claims that Hamas is stealing aid, a

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

official stated that Hamas is not responsible for the attacks. An international aid official reported that there is no evidence of "physical interference from Hamas" anywhere in the north or south of Gaza.

Aftermath

Following the incident, Gaza's interior ministry said that Hamas, in cooperation with tribal committees, expanded its operations targeting "gangs" accused of looting trucks bringing aid into Gaza. They said that 20 people were killed who had been involved in the aid convoy looting near the Kerem Shalom border crossing. Hamas stated that anyone caught engaging in a similar looting will be dealt with "an iron fist".

Reactions

commissioner general

Philippe Lazzarini Philippe Lazzarini (born 1964) is a Swiss-Italian humanitarian who has been serving as Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) since 2020. Early life and education La ...

confirmed the looting and stated that "we have been warning a long time ago about the total breakdown of civil order" in Gaza. The UNRWA blamed the "collapse of law and order" caused by the "approach of the Israeli authorities" for the incident. * State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller called the looting "abhorrent" and blamed it for the "overall breakdown" of security in Gaza, for which he said "the IDF certainly bears part of the blame for". * The

Palestinian National and Islamic Forces The Palestinian National and Islamic Forces () is a coalition formed shortly after the outbreak of the second Intifada with the authorization of Yasser Arafat and led by Marwan Barghouti. The coalition coordinates the agenda of its members and h ...

condemned the looting by "criminal thieves who disrupt the security of our internal front and steal the livelihoods, bread, and medicine of our citizens".

References