This video has been going around, showing gunmen on many aid trucks in Gaza on Wednesday:
Many are saying that these are Hamas members stealing the aid, but I'm not so sure.
Media in Gaza indicates that these are the anti-Hamas clans in Gaza who are securing the aid.
150 humanitarian aid trucks carrying food, baby food and formula, medical supplies and medications, were transferred to the northern Gaza Strip via the Zikim Crossing and to the southern Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom Crossing over the last two days (June 23-24).
This Africa News video interviews Gaza residents who are receiving aid in an orderly fashion, and they are happy that the aid is not being looted as it was before. It mentions that the clans are saying that they are protecting and helping distribute the aid.
Hiba Khalil, a mother of seven, expressed her deep gratitude: "Thanks God, that the trucks are secured and we can receive orderly better than what used to happen with the looting." Khalil noted that flour had been selling for as much as 2,000 to 3,000 shekels—nearly $900—making it unaffordable for many during the ongoing economic collapse in Gaza.Gaza’s powerful clans say they are stepping in to ensure fair and secure distribution. Though it's unclear how much coordination has taken place with Israeli or UN officials, residents say the new approach is working better.Ali al-Tiben, another Gaza resident, said: "Today, we are very happy that we can receive (aid) in an organized way better than the aid distribution that was looted by gangs."
This video, from the official PA Wafa news agency, show a Gaza City woman receiving a food package that, they say, was secured by clans in Gaza. The PA is not shy about accusing Hamas of stealing aid - it has done so numerous times - so when they say that this was secured by clans, it is possible that they are telling the truth.
Her aid box seems to be from the UAE Red Crescent Society.
It is possible that both are true - that Hamas is intercepting the aid, taking a cut and then giving it to locals to protect from further looting. It does not seem likely to me, though. But it is unclear exactly at what point the gunmen get on the trucks - at the Kerem Shalom and other import sites, or after the trucks are past inspections?
After the video of the gunmen came out, Israel was said to have blocked all aid for 48 hours until it could come up with a plan to keep it away from Hamas. But the clans in Gaza deny that Hamas is stealing it.
The IDF would know better than anyone, but there is political pressure in Israeli leaders not to allow aid to get into Gaza that is not protected end to end until distribution to the people. Yet the Gaza clans are the only viable way, outside of paid contractors like GHF uses, to secure aid and keep it away from Hamas. Sure they are thugs, but they generally dislike Hamas and are not interested in sacrificing Gaza lives to attack Israel.
As is seemingly always the case, not only do we not know, but we also don't know what we don't know. And anyone who claims to know is probably lying.
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