The Palestinian Center for Human Rights condemns the continued Israeli occupation forces’ protection of armed groups of thieves who hijack aid trucks and obstruct their entry, similar to actions taken repeatedly during the ongoing military assault on Gaza over the past months.

According to information gathered by PCHR’s field researchers, at approximately 10:00 AM on Thursday, January 23, 2025, armed individuals opened fire upon several aid and commercial supply trucks near the Karem Abu Salem crossing, southeast of Rafah, within the so-called “buffer zone” under Israeli control as part of the ceasefire agreement that began on January 19, 2025.

The attack resulted in the killing of two brothers, Hassan and Mohammed Youssef Hassan Wishah, aged 42 and 37, who were employed to protect the trucks. The incident also caused a delay of several hours in the passage of aid trucks. Later, an Interior Ministry force confronted the thieves, killing two of them and injuring others. Subsequently, the trucks were able to resume their entry into Gaza.

During the ongoing genocide, aid trucks have been systematically looted by armed criminals as they passed through areas in Rafah under Israeli military control. These armed groups would seize the goods, unload them in Israeli-controlled storage facilities, and later sell the supplies at exorbitant prices. This practice has contributed to reinforcing starvation as a weapon of war.

The IOF did not confront the armed thieves who sought refuge under their protection and in the areas they [Israel] controlled. Instead, over the past months, Israeli forces have deliberately targeted and destroyed all police stations and headquarters, killing hundreds of police officers and leaders. PCHR has also documented Israeli forces targeting security teams accompanying humanitarian aid convoys to Gaza, further exacerbating chaos, crime, and the humanitarian crisis—integral to the genocidal strategy aimed at subjecting Palestinians to living conditions designed for their complete or partial destruction.

PCHR holds the IOF accountable for the conditions and protection it provides to these aid-hijacking gangs as part of its starvation policy.

While condemning the actions of these criminal groups, PCHR stresses the need for security forces to adhere to legal standards in dealing with them.

PCHR calls for the immediate lifting of the siege, ensuring the uninterrupted entry of humanitarian aid, free from direct targeting or indirect obstacles, to meet the needs of over 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, who have suffered from starvation and a lack of basic services for months.

PCHR calls for the immediate ending of the siege and the unhindered entry of humanitarian aid, free from both direct attacks and indirect barriers, to meet the urgent needs of over 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza who have suffered from starvation and a lack of essential services for the past months.