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

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 U.N. and U.S. 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, U.N. and U.S. 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 U.N. 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 U.N. 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 U.N.’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 U.S. 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.

An Israeli security official, who asked not to be identified, said that looting has ebbed in recent weeks but remains a challenge. “We have learned a lot, together with the international organizations,” the official told reporters on Tuesday. “It’s very hard to reach no looting at all.”

Fourteen months into Israel’s war against Hamas, the international relief machine is in disarray: U.N. 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 U.N. 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.

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 U.N. and U.S. 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.