No more free-for-alls in Gaza with looters – or even desperate civilians – ripping supplies off humanitarian aid trucks heading to distribution centers.
At least, that is the intention behind the new rules for aid distribution to be managed by US private contractors in collaboration with international aid organizations and secured by Israeli forces.
However, here’s the first caveat: “Due to logistical delays” the new system for aid distribution will not open on Sunday as previously announced by the political echelon, but instead has been postponed by several days, according to Hebrew-language Israeli journalist Yinon Shalom Yatach.
Instead, humanitarian aid will be distributed on Sunday using the “old” method – meaning there is a good chance that at least some of that aid will once again reach the hands of Hamas, rather than the Gaza civilians for whom it was intended.
This past week, nearly 400 trucks carrying tons of humanitarian aid supplies were inspected and approved to enter Gaza via the Kerem Shalom Crossing – but supplies from only 115 trucks were collected, according to United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
The UN chief tends to parrot figures fed to him by Hamas, as do many of the UN aid agencies, so the true figures are unclear.
What is clear, however, is that the looting by Hamas and terror gangs has not stopped.
A full 25 percent of the reported 115 trucks carrying the aid into Gaza have been looted, according to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), whose presence in Israeli territory was banned last year due to its documented enmeshment and cooperation with the Hamas terrorist organization.
In Deir al-Balah, armed gangs opened fire on aid trucks and looted them, CNN reported. Fifteen World Food Programme (WFP) trucks were looted in southern Gaza before they could reach the UN-supported bakeries where flour was to be transformed into pita bread.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation – a joint US-Israeli aid program – is set to begin aid distribution this weekend – but the UN and other aid organizations are refusing to work with the program, which includes tightened security measures intended to ensure that Hamas will not be able to access the supplies.
If the program gets off the ground as planned, the new distribution mechanism will look something like this:
1. A representative from each nuclear family in Gaza enters a passage.
2. If approved, the family representative advances into a secured, circular route.
3. Upon arrival at the entrance to the distribution facility, the family rep goes through a meticulous registration process according to databases held by international aid organizations.
4. Following registration, the family rep receives a package with basic necessities, enough to meet the needs of the registered number of family members.
5. After receiving the package, the family rep then leaves via a different route, after which there is an additional registration process prior to exiting.
The IDF is expected to monitor the number of Gazans entering and leaving the aid distribution system. It has not yet been determined whether those figures will be made public.
Under the secured aid distribution system, family representatives who wish will also be given the option to bring their nuclear family inside as well.
It’s unclear, however, as to when the new system will be launched, given the current difficulties with UN cooperation and other “logistical” issues.
