Looting cripples food supply in Gaza despite Israeli pledge to tackle gangs, sources say

A Palestinian mother changes the clothes of her five-year-old daughter suffering from malnutrition, at a shelter they live in after being displaced by the war, in the central Gaza Strip, on December 24, 2024. (AFP)
A Palestinian mother changes the clothes of her five-year-old daughter suffering from malnutrition, at a shelter they live in after being displaced by the war, in the central Gaza Strip, on December 24, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 24 December 2024
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Looting cripples food supply in Gaza despite Israeli pledge to tackle gangs, sources say

A Palestinian mother changes the clothes of her five-year-old daughter suffering from malnutrition, at a shelter they live in.
  • IDF has taken only limited actions against the handful of gangs operating in parts of Gaza under Israeli control, according to three officials

GAZA: Israel has failed to crack down on armed gangs attacking food convoys in Gaza, despite a pledge to do so in mid-October to help ward off famine in the Palestinian enclave, according to three UN and US officials familiar with the matter.

The commitment, made behind closed doors, seemed like a breakthrough because, since the beginning of the war in October 2023, the international community has struggled to enlist Israel’s support to improve the dire humanitarian situation in the war-ravaged territory, the three senior officials said.
But the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has remained focused on its fight against Hamas and taken only limited actions against the handful of gangs operating in parts of Gaza under Israeli control, according to the three officials, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.
The office of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred questions on the pledge and relief operations in Gaza to the military. An IDF spokesperson declined to comment on what was agreed in October and what has been done to curb looting.
“Israel has taken significant steps to allow the maximum possible scope of aid to Gaza,” the spokesperson said.
Now, UN and US officials say gang violence has spiraled out of control, crippling supply lines on which most of Gaza’s 2.1 million civilians rely for survival.
In October, $9.5 million worth of food and other goods – nearly a quarter of all the humanitarian aid sent to Gaza that month – was lost because of attacks and looting, according to a previously unreported tally of incidents compiled by UN relief agencies with charity organizations.
The assessment of looting in November is still underway, but preliminary data shows that it was far worse, two people familiar with the matter said. In mid-November, a 109-truck convoy chartered by UN agencies came under attack minutes after it was ordered by the IDF to leave a border crossing in southern Gaza during the night, several hours ahead of the agreed schedule, according to five people familiar with the incident, including two who were present.
Stationed nearby, the IDF did not intervene, the five people said. The IDF spokesperson declined to comment on the incident.
Georgios Petropoulos, a coordinator at the UN’s emergency-response arm, OCHA, said that aid agencies were unable to resolve the problem of lawlessness there by themselves.
“It’s just gotten too big for humanitarians to solve,” he told reporters upon returning from Gaza on Thursday.
The US Department of State declined to comment on Israel’s October commitment, but said that looting remained the primary obstacle to aid delivery.
“We continue to press Israel on the need for bolstered security to ensure convoys with critical humanitarian assistance reach Palestinian civilians throughout Gaza,” a spokesperson said.
Fourteen months into Israel’s war against Hamas, the international relief machine is in disarray: UN agencies and charities say the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has reached one of its worst points because they cannot deliver and distribute enough food and medical supplies to Gaza’s population. A new round of ceasefire talks this month has rekindled hope that Hamas would release Israeli hostages it has held captive since its Oct. 7 attack on Israel last year, and that solutions can be found to boost humanitarian aid.
For now, however, relief operations are hobbled by a disagreement between Israel and much of the international community over who is responsible for feeding civilians in Gaza and maintaining order in the tiny territory.
The UN and the United States have repeatedly called on Israel to comply with international humanitarian laws, and provide security and assistance to Gaza civilians. But Israeli authorities say their only duty is to facilitate the transfer of food and medical supplies, and that they regularly do much more out of goodwill.
The stalemate has made organizing and coordinating relief operations immensely difficult, said Jamie McGoldrick, who was the UN Humanitarian chief for the Occupied Palestinian Territory from December to April.
To gauge the depth of the hunger crisis, US officials said they watch the percentage of Gaza’s population to whom UN relief agencies could provide food assistance each month.
In November, it was 29 percent, up from 24 percent in October, but a sharp fall from a wartime peak of more than 70 percent in April, according to UN data.
Mohammad Abdel-Dayem, owner of the Zadna 2 bakery in central Gaza, said he and his 60 employees have been out of business for a month, unable to provide bread to the 50,000 people they normally serve.
“We’re not receiving any flour because of looting,” he told Reuters by phone last week.
The IDF spokesperson challenged the claim that some bakeries are not receiving flour.
But a daily World Food Programme review of bakery operations seen by Reuters showed that 15 of the 19 bread factories the UN agency supports in Gaza were out of operation as of Dec. 21, and that Zadna 2 has been closed since Nov. 23 due to a lack of flour.
Some of the stolen food makes its way to the market, Abdel-Dayem said, but at prohibitive prices that only very few people can afford. Relief workers said they also face difficulties in accessing northern Gaza, where the IDF resumed combat against Hamas in October. An estimated 30,000 to 50,000 civilians remain stranded there, with little food and medical assistance.
The IDF spokesperson said a dedicated humanitarian response has been formulated for the area. Aside from fighting in the north, more than a dozen UN and US officials traced the deterioration of humanitarian conditions inside Gaza in the past three months to a decision by Israeli authorities in early October to ban commercial food shipments by businesses.
Those shipments accounted for nearly all the fresh food and more than half of all goods going into Gaza between May and September, according to Israeli military data.
Their abrupt suspension caused a sharp drop in supply and made attacking aid trucks an increasingly lucrative proposition, the UN and US officials said.
In October, 40 percent of aid collected from the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Gaza was looted, according to the tally of incidents seen by Reuters.
Israeli authorities have opened a new crossing, Kissufim, but gangs have also attacked convoys along that route, the UN said.
The gangs are formed along tribal and family lines, and include some criminal elements freed from prisons in Gaza during the Israeli offensive, according to relief and transport workers in Gaza.
The UN and the United States have pressed Israel to restore commercial shipments, saying that flooding Gaza with food would drive down prices and discourage looters, but Israeli authorities have not agreed to do so.
Depleted trucks
Early in the war, the UN sought to rely on unarmed Gaza policemen to secure convoys, but Israel was opening fire on them, saying it could not tolerate any force tied to Hamas.
Visiting the Kerem Shalom crossing in late November, an Israeli officer said it was the responsibility of the UN to distribute aid to Gazans once Israel allowed food across the border.
Waiving at piles of food, Col. Abdullah Halabi – clad in a bullet-proof vest and ballistic helmet – told reporters it was aid “waiting to be picked up by international organizations.”
But OCHA’s Petropoulos said gang violence makes this nearly impossible.
He and other relief workers said they were stunned by the attack on the 109-truck convoy on Nov. 16 about four miles from the crossing.
Gunmen from several gangs surrounded the convoy and forced drivers to follow them to nearby compounds where they stole flour and food kits from 98 trucks, according to the five people familiar with the matter.
Drivers and their depleted trucks were released in the morning, they said.


Israelis mass for funeral of Bibas hostages killed in Gaza

Israelis mass for funeral of Bibas hostages killed in Gaza
Updated 9 sec ago
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Israelis mass for funeral of Bibas hostages killed in Gaza

Israelis mass for funeral of Bibas hostages killed in Gaza

RISHON LE’ZION: Thousands of mourners, carrying flags and orange balloons, gathered Wednesday for the funeral procession of Shiri Bibas and her sons, who were killed in Gaza captivity and had become symbols of Israel’s hostage ordeal.
The bodies of Shiri Bibas and her children — Kfir and Ariel — were returned to Israel last week by Hamas as part of the ongoing ceasefire that has halted the more than 15 months of fighting in Gaza.
Israel’s national anthem was played as the black vehicle convoy passed through the crowd of mourners in the central city of Rishon LeZion, where the remains of the three hostages had been prepared for burial.
Thousands of people lined the route to kibbutz Nir Oz, where the Bibas family lived before their abduction by Palestinian militants on October 7, 2023, and where their burial was set to take place later.
“I think if I stop to think about it for more than a split second, I feel so sickened, so sickened,” said Simi Polonasky, 38, who traveled from Miami to support hostage families.
“It’s not a regular situation: if you’re not feeling numb, you’re feeling so shattered and broken that it almost feels hard to continue,” she told AFP, starting to weep as she spoke.
Dozens of people lit candles at the roadside.
“We’re here to give a hug and receive a hug, to be strengthened and to give as much strength as possible,” said Mottel Gestetner, 41, who traveled from Australia.
Shiri Bibas and her two children were taken from their kibbutz by Palestinian militants during their unprecedented attack on Israel.
Her husband, Yarden Bibas, was also abducted but was released alive earlier this month in a hostage-prisoner exchange with Palestinian militant group Hamas.
“From the window (of the car) today, I see a broken country. We won’t be able to get up or to heal until the last of the hostages is back home. Thank you everyone,” his sister Ofri Bibas said on her Facebook page.
The remains of the three Bibas family members were among the first to be returned under the truce deal.
The handover sparked anger in Israel when the remains of Shiri Bibas were not initially returned, prompting Hamas to admit a possible “mix-up of bodies” and finally hand over hers.
Yarden Bibas and his sister-in-law said in a statement last week that while the funeral would “only be for members of the family and close friends,” they wanted to let “whoever wishes to pay their respects and be a part of this moment to do so.”
Crowds of people were expected to line up along the route from Risho LeZion to Nir Oz as the funeral procession heads to the kibbutz.
Hamas has long insisted that an Israeli air strike killed Shiri, Kfir and Ariel Bibas early in the war, but an Israeli autopsy said there was no evidence of injuries caused by a bombing.
Since their abduction Shiri Bibas and her two sons, Ariel who was then aged four, and Kfir, then only nine months, had become symbols of Israel’s hostage ordeal.


Eight sentenced to death for 2013 murder of Tunisia opposition leader

Eight sentenced to death for 2013 murder of Tunisia opposition leader
Updated 26 February 2025
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Eight sentenced to death for 2013 murder of Tunisia opposition leader

Eight sentenced to death for 2013 murder of Tunisia opposition leader
  • Brahmi, a nationalist left-wing leader of the People’s Movement and member of Tunisia’s Constituent Assembly, was an outspoken critic of the Islamist-inspired government dominated by Ennahdha at the time

TUNIS: A Tunisian court sentenced eight defendants to death on Tuesday over the 2013 assassination of leftist opposition figure Mohamed Brahmi, according to local reports.
Charges included “attempting to change the state’s nature” and “inciting armed conflict,” local media reported.
Three of the defendants also received additional death sentences for “deliberate participation in premeditated murder,” according to the reports.
A ninth, who is on the run, was sentenced to five years in prison for “failing to report terrorist crimes to the authorities,” said the reports.
Tunisia still hands down death sentences, particularly in “terrorism” cases, even though a de facto moratorium in effect since 1991 means they are effectively commuted to life terms.
The verdict marked the first set of rulings in the case of Brahmi’s assassination, which took place outside his home on July 25, 2013, amid Tunisia’s turbulent post-revolution political landscape.
Demonstrators took to the streets across the country, as Brahmi’s distinctive round face and thick mustache became symbols of protest against jihadist violence.
Brahmi, a nationalist left-wing leader of the People’s Movement and member of Tunisia’s Constituent Assembly, was an outspoken critic of the Islamist-inspired government dominated by Ennahdha at the time.
His assassination further shocked the nation as it came less than six months after the killing of another prominent leftist figure, Chokri Belaid, who was also gunned down outside his home.

Brahmi had been elected in Sidi Bouzid, the birthplace of the 2011 revolution that toppled ex-president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and later swept through the Arab World.
He was shot 14 times by two assailants in front of his wife and children.
His family had long accused Ennahdha of being behind the murder, but the then ruling party denied the allegations.
It had also pushed back against accusations of excessive leniency, blacklisting the formerly legal Salafist movement Ansar Al-Charia as a terrorist organization.
Terrorists affiliated with the Daesh claimed responsibility for both the Brahmi and Belaid assassinations.
The aftermath of the 2011 revolution saw a surge in Islamist radicalism in Tunisia with thousands of jihadist volunteers leaving to fight in Syria, Iraq and neighboring Libya.
Tunisia faced heightened security threats, with armed groups operating from the Chaambi Mountains near the Algerian border, primarily targeting security forces and the military.
In 2015, jihadist attacks in Sousse and the capital Tunis killed dozens of tourists and police, although authorities say they have since made significant progress against the extremists.
In recent years, Tunisian authorities claim significant progress in combating jihadist violence, but the country remains under a state of emergency.
In 2022, President Kais Saied — who has framed the murders of Brahmi and Belaid as national issues and often called them “martyrs” — dismissed dozens of judges after alleging they had obstructed investigations.
The high-profile killings, and the mass protests they drew, ultimately forced Ennahdha to relinquish power to a technocratic government following the adoption of a new constitution.
The crisis had nearly derailed Tunisia’s fragile democratic transition.
But political dialogue led by four civil society organizations, including the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT), helped restore stability and earned the nation of 12 million the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize.
 

 


Why UAE climate scientists have their heads in the clouds

Why UAE climate scientists have their heads in the clouds
Updated 26 February 2025
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Why UAE climate scientists have their heads in the clouds

Why UAE climate scientists have their heads in the clouds
  • $1.5 million three-year project will deploy artificial intelligence to increase annual rainfall

DUBAI: Artificial intelligence and “the cloud” seem to be everywhere these days — now scientists in the UAE are putting them together in an attempt to increase the country’s minuscule 100mm annual rainfall.

A three-year project funded with $1.5 million from the UAE’s rain enhancement program will feed satellite, radar and weather data into an algorithm that predicts where seedable clouds will form in the next six hours. It promises to improve on the current method of cloud-seeding flights directed by human experts studying satellite images.
Cloud seeding, using planes to fire salt or other chemicals into clouds, can increase rainfall by up to 15 percent — but it works only with certain types of puffy, cumulus clouds, and can even suppress rainfall if not done properly.
“You’ve got to do it in the right place at the right time. That’s why we use artificial intelligence,” said Luca Delle Monache, a climate scientist at the University of California San Diego.


Israel, Hamas agree on new exchange, leaving fragile ceasefire intact

Hamas fighters stand in formation ahead Israeli hostages release in Nuseirat, Gaza Strip, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (AP)
Hamas fighters stand in formation ahead Israeli hostages release in Nuseirat, Gaza Strip, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (AP)
Updated 26 February 2025
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Israel, Hamas agree on new exchange, leaving fragile ceasefire intact

Hamas fighters stand in formation ahead Israeli hostages release in Nuseirat, Gaza Strip, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (AP)
  • The deadlock had threatened to collapse the ceasefire when the current six-week first phase of the deal expires this weekend

JERUSALEM: Israeli and Hamas officials said Tuesday they have reached an agreement to exchange the bodies of dead hostages for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, keeping their fragile ceasefire intact for at least a few more days.
Israel has delayed the release of 600 Palestinian prisoners since Saturday to protest what it says is the cruel treatment of hostages during their release by Hamas. The militant group has said the delay is a “serious violation” of their ceasefire and that talks on a second phase are not possible until they are freed.
The deadlock had threatened to collapse the ceasefire when the current six-week first phase of the deal expires this weekend.
But late Tuesday, Hamas said an agreement had been reached to resolve the dispute during a visit to Cairo by a delegation headed by Khalil Al-Hayya, a top political official in the group.
The breakthrough appeared to clear the way for the return of the bodies of four more dead hostages and hundreds of additional prisoners scheduled to be released under the ceasefire.
The prisoners previously slated for release “will be released simultaneously with the bodies of the Israeli prisoners who were agreed to be handed over,” along with the release of a new set of Palestinian prisoners, the Hamas statement said.
An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, confirmed an agreement to bring home the bodies in the coming days. He gave no further details.
But Israeli media reports said the exchange could take place as soon as Wednesday. The Ynet news site said the Israeli bodies would be handed over to Egyptian authorities without any public ceremony.
Hamas has released hostages, and the bodies of four dead hostages, in large public ceremonies during which the Israelis were paraded and forced to wave to large crowds. Israel, along with the Red Cross and UN officials, have said the ceremonies were humiliating to the hostages, and Israel last weekend delayed the scheduled prisoner release in protest.
The latest agreement would complete both sides’ obligations of the first phase of the ceasefire — during which Hamas is returning 33 hostages — including eight bodies — in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
It also could clear the way for an expected visit by the White House’s Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, to the region. Witkoff, who is expected in the region in the coming days, has said he wants the sides to move into negotiations on the second phase, during which all remaining hostages held by Hamas are to be released and an end to the war is to be negotiated. The Phase 2 talks were supposed to begin weeks ago, but never did.
The ceasefire, brokered by the US, Egypt and Qatar, ended 15 months of heavy fighting that erupted after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that killed some 1,200 people in Israel and took about 250 people hostage.
Israel’s military offensive has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health officials, displaced an estimated 90 percent of Gaza’s population and decimated the territory’s infrastructure and health system. The Hamas-run Health Ministry does not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths, but it says that over half of the dead have been women and children.
 

 


More than 20 killed after Sudanese army plane crashed in residential area

More than 20 killed after Sudanese army plane crashed in residential area
Updated 26 February 2025
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More than 20 killed after Sudanese army plane crashed in residential area

More than 20 killed after Sudanese army plane crashed in residential area
  • In a statement sent to the media, the RSF said it shot down a Russian-made Ilyushin plane early on Monday morning, alleging that the plane was destroyed with its crew on board

DUBAI: A Sudanese army plane crashed on Tuesday in a residential area near the Wadi Seidna military airport in northern Omdurman killing more than 20 people, including military personnel and civilians, military and medical sources said on Wednesday.
The military sources said that the plane crash was most likely due to technical reasons.
Among those killed was Major General Bahr Ahmed, a senior commander in Khartoum who previously served as the commander of the army across the entire capital.
The Sudanese army had said on Tuesday in a statement several military personnel and civilians were killed in the incident, but did not provide further details.