Hamas ‘orchestrated aid chaos to keep control of Gaza’

Hamas threatened to punish Gazans who co-operate with a new aid organisation and set up barriers to block access to much needed food.

The pandemonium surrounding the launch of an Israeli-backed plan to deliver aid in Gaza was reportedly orchestrated by Hamas, which is determined to retain control of food distribution in the enclave.

The second day of aid operations by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation descended into chaos after thousands of Palestinians broke into two distribution sites and forced its staff to retreat.

Israeli troops fired warning shots, sending people fleeing in panic.

The incident has come amid widespread criticism of the US-backed organisation, which oversees the new system of aid distribution that aims to feed up to 600,000 Palestinians a week via four major food distribution centres.

Under the aegis of the GHF, food is to be handed directly to major Gazan families with the help of private US security firms. Those families are then expected to distribute the aid throughout the enclave, bypassing Hamas.

The UN and other humanitarian groups have rejected the new system, saying it won’t be able to meet the needs of Gaza’s 2.3 million people and allows Israel to use food as a weapon to control the population.

Critics have said the chaos on Tuesday (AEST) shows the GHF can’t control the distribution of aid and will fail in its attempts to control the food supply.

Palestinians carry boxes containing food and humanitarian aid packages delivered by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Picture; AP.

However Israeli media reports that as the first two distribution sites opened Hamas threatened Palestinians they would “pay the price” if they co-operated with the organisation, and tried to prevent Gazan residents from reaching the aid points.

The group told Palestinians to stay home, claiming Israel was using the company to collect intelligence information.

“Do not go to Rafah. Do not fall into the trap. Do not risk your lives. Your homes are your fortress. Staying in your neighbourhoods is survival, and awareness is your protection,” a statement published by the Hamas-linked Home Front said.

Channel 12 and Israel’s state broadcaster Kan TV report that militants placed barriers to block access to the distribution sites in the southern city of Rafah and told Gazans Israelis were arresting residents near those areas.

It was frustration at these illicit checkpoints, not at the aid workers, that led to thousands of Palestinians forcing their way into the distribution centres, Kan TV reports.

Channel 12 also suggested that Hamas militants had infiltrated the compounds from where food was being handed out and looted the food.

The new plan had been embraced by Jerusalem as a way to wrest back control of food supplies from Hamas. The militant group is known to steal aid and sell it back to Palestinians to raise finances for the group and fund its war against Israel.

To cut off this “tool of looting” as he describes it, Isareli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had ordered a block on all food, fuel and medical supplies to Gaza. But after 11 weeks of the blockade Israel has faced global opprobrium as malnutrition set in.

Last week, limited amounts of aid began to flow back into Gaza, but the Jerusalem Post reports that on Saturday, five aid trucks were hijacked and their contents stolen and sold to Gazans in Deir el-Balah and the Nuseirat refugee camp. On Friday, 15 World Food Program trucks were looted overnight in the Strip that were carrying humanitarian aid, the Post adds.

GHF said the pandemonium around the distribution sites lasted less than 20 minutes.

In a statement, the organisation said because of the large number of Palestinians seeking aid, staff at the hub followed the group’s safety protocols and “fell back” to allow them to dissipate, then later resumed operations.

“The needs on the ground are great. At one moment in the late afternoon, the volume of people at the SDS was such that the GHF team fell back to allow a small number of Gazans to take aid safely and dissipate,” GHF said. Before the break-in, the organisation said that “approximately 8,000 food boxes have been distributed so far. Each box feeds 5.5 people for 3.5 days, totalling 462,000 meals.”

Israel has declared the distribution so far a success, with a security source telling Kan TV: “The barrier of fear from Hamas has been broken.”

“Throughout the day, Hamas tried to prevent Gaza residents from reaching the distribution sites, but the population reached the sites and took food. Hamas is trying to thwart the American plan because it directly harms its ability to govern,” he said.

Mr Netanyahu said: “There was some loss of control momentarily … happily we brought it under control.”

With AP