'Organised gangs' making off with aid - as Israeli officials say UN operation 'less vulnerable' to Hamas interference

As a UN-backed food security body warned "the worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out" in the region, locals say the internal security breakdown has allowed gangs and merchants to hoard limited supplies and sell them at inflated prices.

Israel has continuously accused Hamas of stealing aid provided by the United Nations and other international organisations, but two senior Israeli officials told the New York Times there is no conclusive evidence that the militant group has systematically done so.

According to Associated Press, a kilogram of flour has run as high as $60 in recent days, while lentils have ballooned to $35 per kilogram.

Under growing international pressure, Israel began allowing food trucks into the territory last week, helping to slightly reduce prices, whilst also reviving the practise of dropping aid from airplanes.

More than 100 aid lorries crossed into Gaza on Tuesday, but most were looted shortly after entering.

It has become an all too familiar sight in recent weeks, as trucks carrying sacks of flour to the military-controlled buffer zones are repeatedly overwhelmed by desperate crowds.

Read more: UK to recognise Palestinian state by September unless Israel agrees to ceasefire

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Residents claim organised gangs of young men are often best positioned to make off with supplies during the chaos.

Mohammed Abu Taha, who lives in a tent with his wife and child near the city of Rafah, told AP the securing of food has become "huge business".

Bags of flour, originally handed out for free, are frequently found in markets bearing UN logos - indicating they came from the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

Neither the UN or GHF are able to track who receives its aid, making it impossible to determine how much is being diverted.

Last week, more than 100 International aid organisations, human rights groups and media outlets warned of mass starvation in Gaza.

The UN estimates 100,000 women and children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition, while the Hamas-run health ministry state dozens of Palestinians have died from hunger-related causes in the last three weeks.

To deliver food safely to the most vulnerable, the UNs World Food Program insisted internal security must be restored to Gaza - likely only under a ceasefire.

A UN-led aid system had been in place for much of the 21-month war, before Israel replaced it in May with a private, American-run operation guarded by armed U.S. contractors in areas controlled by Israeli forces.

Since the new system has been implemented, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops while seeking food handouts, according to the UN human rights office, witnesses and local health officials.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) denied targeting civilians queueing for aid and said it "fired warning shots" in some instances because the crowds endangered their forces.

The two Israel military officials who spoke to the New York Times admitted the original UN operation was more reliable and less vulnerable to Hamas interference because the United Nations managed both the supply chain and distribution.

They acknowledged Hamas had stolen from some smaller aid organisations that lacked on-the-ground oversight, but insisted there is no evidence of widespread theft from UN operations.

Israel has repeatedly insisted there are no restrictions on aid deliveries and denies starvation is taking place.

On Tuesday, Sir Keir Starmer issued an ultimatum to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, telling him the UK would recognise a Palestinian state by September, unless Israel agreed to a ceasefire.

Netanyahu responded angrily, accusing the British Prime Minister of rewarding terrorism.

"A jihadist state on Israel’s border TODAY will threaten Britain TOMORROW," he wrote on X.

"Appeasement towards jihadist terrorists always fails. It will fail you too. It will not happen."

Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas-led attacks on 7 October 2023, which killed about 1,200 people and led to 251 others being taken hostage.

The IDF's attacks have since killed more than 58,895 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

These figures are quoted by the UN and others as the most reliable source of statistics available on casualties.