By Nidal al-Mughrabi
CAIRO (Reuters) – 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.
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, the sources said.
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.
The new anti-looting force, formed of well-equipped fighters from Hamas and allied groups, has been named “The Popular and Revolutionary Committees” and is ready to open fire on hijackers who do not surrender, one of the sources, a Hamas government official, said.
The official, who declined to be named because Hamas would not authorise him to speak about it, said the group operated across central and southern Gaza and had carried out at least 15 missions so far, including killing some armed gangsters.
WIDESPREAD HUNGER
Thirteen months into Israel’s devastating military campaign in Gaza, launched in response to the deadly Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, major shortages of food, medicine and other goods are causing widespread hunger and suffering among civilians.
Israel put commercial goods imports on hold last month and only aid trucks have entered Gaza since then, carrying a fraction of what relief groups say is needed for a…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at All News…
