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More than half of the Egyptian aid trucks that entered Gaza July 27 were looted and their contents later resold in local markets, the Qatari-owned outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported, according to The Times of Israel.
Of the 130 aid trucks sent to Gaza from Egypt, at least 73 were intercepted and looted near the Morag Axis, the report said. The Morag Axis is a corridor that runs between Rafah and Khan Younis and is controlled by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Only 37 trucks reportedly reached the distribution centers, which were run by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society and the Egyptian Committee aid group. According to the report, another 20 trucks were turned back at the border by Israeli authorities for unknown reasons.
The looting occurred on the first day of a new IDF policy that introduced daily 10-hour “humanitarian pauses” in fighting to allow aid into Gaza.
The IDF announced the policy July 26 amid growing international concerns over famine in Gaza.
Former US humanitarian envoy David Satterfield told The Times this week that Hamas and other criminal groups are more likely to steal supplies distributed by the Red Crescent Society, which has “zero oversight,” than from aid that the United Nations supports.
“The chain of custody from inspection by Israel to distribution sites maintained and documented by the UN and the major international organizations was and is carefully done,” Satterfield said, “as these organizations are all accountable to the funding states, including the US.”
