Activists block trucks entering Gaza

Israeli activists blocked aid crossings into Gaza on Tuesday as part of a campaign to shut down the relief operation during the war against Hamas.

Members of the Tsav 9 group, which includes the families of hostages and soldiers in Gaza, were able to stop trucks entering the besieged enclave from the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Israel.

The campaign comes amid a growing humanitarian crisis, with the UN Emergency Relief Co-ordinator Martin Griffiths saying last month that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza “are actually in famine, not just at risk of famine”.

“Today we managed to stop the humanitarian corridor,” said Rachel Touitou, a French-Israeli spokesperson for Tsav 9, via a phone call from Kerem Shalom. “We are here despite the military zone the government declared.”

Ms Touitou said members were united by the belief that aid is being taken by Hamas and used to fuel the militant group’s war effort against Israel. She cited a recent report stating that Israel’s Shin Bet security agency believes that up to 70 per cent of aid is taken by the militant group – a claim that has not been independently corroborated.

“If Israel wants to win the war it cannot continue to provide aid to the population of the enemy,” the spokesperson said.

Tsav 9 was created just weeks ago and has staged a series of protests at the crossing along with other anti-aid groups. Tuesday marked the largest event yet involving hundreds of demonstrators, Ms Touitou said, including religious and secular protesters from across the country and the occupied West Bank’s settlements.

The Israel government did not immediately respond to enquiries over action taken to restore operations at the crossing.

Allegations that members of the UN Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa) – the primary aid distributor in Gaza whose trucks are used to ferry aid across the border – took part in the Hamas massacres of 7 October were fuelling protests, Ms Touitou added.

She said protesters did not intend “to starve civilians” but suggested that such claims were exaggerated.

Mirit Hoffman, a spokesperson for Mothers of IDF Soldiers, another group campaigning against sending aid to Gaza, said that aid was undermining Israel’s war effort.

“Our soldiers should be prioritised over the enemy population,” she told i. “We are against the humanitarian aid brought into Gaza, because it is getting to Hamas the terrorist group – and thus prolonging the war.”

The spokesperson also disputed claims by aid groups of a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

The activists said they represented the majority opinion in Israel. A recent poll found that 72 per cent of respondents would stop aid to Gaza without the return of hostages. Government ministers have also argued against relief efforts.

But cutting off aid could exacerbate what relief workers describe as a rapidly deteriorating crisis.

Islamic Relief has said the enclave is suffering “the world’s worst current hunger crisis“. Representatives of aid groups operating in the Strip report that starving Palestinians are eating grass.

The UN has also warned of rocketing life-threatening malnutrition rates among Gaza’s children.

“There is a desperate need for more aid to enter Gaza,” said Riham Jafari of ActionAid, adding that less than one fifth of aid reaches the Strip compared to pre-war levels, even as needs have sharply increased. “Every single person in Gaza is now hungry, and there is a severe shortage of medicine, fuel, as well as other necessities like period products and tents.”

Aid groups have also reported severe shortages of medicine and the destruction of medical facilities that have led to surgeries and childbirth occurring without anaesthetic. Just 11 of 36 hospitals in Gaza are operational, according to the UN.

A lack of clean water has also reportedly forced civilians to drink contaminated water, increasing the risk of communicable diseases.

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Shortages could worsen as Unrwa says it will be unable to provide services beyond the end of the month due to funding cuts from countries including the UK and US, although fellow aid groups have warned that no other agency can replicate its role.

A new Channel 4 investigation of the claims against Unrwa staff in Israel’s secret dossier found only “flimsy unproven allegations”, according to the channel’s international editor Lindsey Hilsum.

Aid groups contacted by i did not comment on allegations of supplies being taken by Hamas. There have been reports of Palestinians complaining that aid delivered free is now being sold to them at extortionate prices.

Dr Yossi Mekelberg, a specialist on the Israel-Palestine conflict at Chatham House, said anti-aid protesters have different motives, but the Israeli government must act.

“There are protesters who say no aid until the hostages are released but also far right [activists] who are just taking the opportunity because they don’t want any aid to reach Gaza and want to go all the way to victory – whatever that means – and if it means starving the population or depriving them of medical aid so be it.

“I think it’s the task of the Israeli government to ensure that humanitarian aid is crossing at Kerem Shalom and stopping the collective punishment of Palestinians in Gaza.”