A handful of young people pose for the camera in Gaza with their faces covered. They are all men, some with Kalashnikov rifles, others with wooden sticks. On their foreheads they wear a band that says “People's Protection Committees,” in the style of the militiamen but much more rustic, a reflection of the lack of almost everything the Palestinian strip experiences. One of them announced the creation of committees to help the Interior Ministry of the Hamas government in Gaza ensure “security and stability” and “control excessive prices.” They try to delegate authority, but they achieve the opposite: about ten twenty-somethings (at most) to regulate the situation created by the Israeli decision to overthrow Hamas – the Islamist party militia that has ruled the enclave since 2007 and the Hamas launched the October 7 attack. ― and to use humanitarian aid as a weapon of war. That means malnutrition, half a million people on the brink of famine, attacks on food trucks and a black market that further divides Gaza's population into those who had money before the war and those who did not.
Against this backdrop, the Israeli army opened fire on Thursday as thousands of people fought for one of the very scarce supplies of flour destined for the northern Gaza Strip. More than 100 people were killed by gunfire or were run over by vehicles.
The committees were formed this week in the only place they could find: Rafah, where the majority of Gaza's 2.3 million people live. After almost five months of war, there is still some semblance of a government authority here, as it is the only city that the Israeli army has not yet invaded. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized again on Thursday that the war would not end without the entry of his troops. “There can be no doubt,” despite “growing international pressure,” he told a news conference in Tel Aviv.
Food distribution in Deir El Balah, central Gaza, on Thursday.Anadolu (Anadolu via Getty Images)
The convoy tragedy occurred in the capital, Gaza City. In the north, 15.6% of babies under two years of age (virtually none before the war) are severely malnourished. Hamas government health authorities in Gaza on Thursday put at 10 the number of children who have died of malnutrition or dehydration in hospitals in the area in recent days. The Famine Review Committee – made up of international experts in food security and nutrition – has identified at least one of the three indicators of famine among the north's 400,000 to 500,000 residents. More than 80% of the world's people in phase five (the worst food crisis) actually live in Gaza: 576,000 people are “one step away from famine” (OCHA), according to the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs. , in its English acronym).
Help with boxes that end up in the sea
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Some countries, such as Jordan, France and the United Arab Emirates, have begun air-launching humanitarian aid with the green light from Israel, but the result has only brought honey to the lips of a desperate population. Most of the boxes dropped by Jordanian military planes on Tuesday landed in the sea. On social media, a crowd of people could be seen off the shore waiting for the waves to bring them closer, or fishermen trying to reach them. A majority of those rescued were already useless. A new attempt on Thursday caused even more frustration: the wind pushed the parachutes away during the descent and because Gaza is so narrow (12 kilometers at its widest point between the Mediterranean and the border with Israel), they fell in Israel.
They are trying to get there by air because the land route has been complicated and dangerous for weeks. According to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Israeli military aircraft have bombed police escorting convoys, causing officials to recently refuse to unmask themselves and hesitate to accompany them. The drivers are therefore at the mercy of hungry masses and mafias who attempt to loot the goods to resell on the black market. Some street stalls display products that should actually be free.
In recent weeks, images have emerged of dozens of Palestinians climbing onto trucks with help or running behind them to catch up with them. Or people who bring sacks of flour to their house or tent but they never reach their destination. Due to the shortage of flour, some families in the north prepare flatbread from the forage given to the animals.
Two of those incidents prompted the United Nations World Food Program last week to announce the suspension of humanitarian aid shipments to the north: In the first, on February 18, “a large number of hungry people” made “numerous attempts” to board the convoy on its way to Gaza City. He was even shot when he entered the capital. In the second case, a day later, a driver was attacked and several trucks carrying flour were looted before they reached Deir al Balah, which was still in the center.
Food distribution on Thursday in Deir al Balah, in the center of the Gaza Strip. Anadolu (Anadolu via Getty Images)
Over the past three weeks, an average of fewer than 100 trucks per day have entered the Gaza Strip from Egypt. That is a hundred less than the commitment made by Israel and 400 less than before the war. Israel blames the bottleneck (in Egypt there is an endless line of trucks waiting to pass) on the UN's inefficiency in importing and distributing the trucks.
In February, 50 percent fewer aid supplies arrived than in January, UNRWA boss Philippe Lazzarini denounced on the social network X on Tuesday. “Aid should be increased, not decreased, to meet the immense needs of two million Palestinians in desperate living conditions. Obstacles include a lack of political will, frequent closures of border crossings and a lack of security due to military operations, as well as the breakdown of public order,” he noted. On February 5, a truck belonging to one of their convoys was also attacked on the road by the Israeli naval force, despite prior coordination with the army. There were no injuries, but much of the wheat flour he was transporting was lost and he had to turn back.
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