Fighters from Hamas and other Gaza factions have formed an armed force to prevent gangs pillaging aid convoys in the embattled Territory, residents and sources close to the group said, after a big increase in the looting of scarce supplies, Reuters reports.
Since being formed this month amid rising public anger at aid seizures and price gouging, the new force has staged repeated operations, ambushing looters and killing some in armed clashes.
Hamas’ efforts to take a lead in securing aid supplies point to the difficulties Israel will face in a post-war Gaza, with few obvious alternatives to a group it has been trying to destroy for over a year and which it says can have no governing role.
Israel accuses Hamas of hijacking aid. The group denies that and accuses Israel of trying to foment anarchy in Gaza by targeting police guarding aid convoys.
A spokesperson for Israel’s military did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment on Hamas units fighting looters.
Amid the chaos of the war, armed gangs have increasingly raided supply convoys, hijacking trucks and selling the looted stock in Gaza markets at exorbitant prices.
As well as driving anger at the Israeli military, the shortages had also prompted questions of Hamas for its seeming inability to stop the gangs.
We are all against the bandits and looters so we can live and eat […] now you are obliged to buy from a thief said Diyaa Al-Nasara, speaking near a funeral for a Hamas fighter killed in clashes with looters.