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The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants today for Israel's prime minister and former defense minister. The court says that they have used starvation as a weapon of war against people in Gaza. Israel has called the allegations absurd and false, but aid groups say not enough food is being allowed into Gaza, and the little that does get in is often stolen. NPR's Aya Batrawy and Anas Baba examine a new danger compounding Gaza's misery - armed gangs.
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AYA BATRAWY, BYLINE: It's early morning outside a U.N.-run bakery. People are waiting in long lines, some since 2 a.m. The round loaves of pita sold here for cheap are how people in Gaza have survived on just one meal a day throughout the war. NPR's producer Anas Baba got a look inside the bakery.
ANAS BABA, BYLINE: At least there is 10,000 people every day that comes here to ask for some of the pita bread that's coming fresh from the oven here, but half of them aren't. Sometimes two-thirds of them return home empty-handed.
BATRAWY: People will leave hungry because there are only three bakeries functioning in all of southern and central Gaza, where some two million people are displaced. The others have run out of fuel and flour. The U.N. says only 37 trucks of aid on average a day entered Gaza from Israel last month - the lowest since the war began. And much of that aid's being stolen by gangs in areas under Israeli watch. Here's Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, the main U.N. agency in Gaza.
PHILIPPE LAZZARINI: We are in an environment where, you know, local gangs, local families are struggling among each other to take control. It has become an impossible environment to operate.
BATRAWY: Just how impossible became clear Saturday, when looters attacked a convoy of over 100 trucks carrying food aid, taking nearly everything. The U.N. says the attack happened not far from Gaza's southern border with Israel, along an alternate, unfamiliar route decided on by Israel's military. Looters have grown emboldened in recent months.
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BATRAWY: Thousands of trucks used to enter Gaza every day from Egypt. But six months ago, Israel took control of Gaza's side of that border, rerouting cargo through Israeli crossings, restricting the flow. Soon, this became the scene.
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BATRAWY: In audio captured by NPR in July, armed looters attack trucks carrying food parcels. An Israeli drone hovers overhead.
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BATRAWY: The looters, some of them known criminals before the war, have become organized gangs, armed with assault rifles and knives. Nahed Shohaybr, head of Gaza's private transportation association, lost trucks in the most recent looting. Some of his drivers were hospitalized.
NAHED SHOHAYBR: (Non-English language spoken).
BATRAWY: He tells NPR over the phone, "Israel is protecting the gangs." He says, "Israel is trying to force Hamas to surrender by starving Gaza." Shohaybr has had four drivers killed by these gangs in recent months. The Washington Post and Financial Times reported this week on a leaked U.N. memo saying gangs may be benefiting from a passive, if not active, benevolence or protection from Israeli forces. Spokesman at the U.N. Stephane Dujarric had this to say.
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STEPHANE DUJARRIC: The reports - the idea that the Israeli forces may be allowing looters or not doing enough to prevent it is frankly fairly alarming, given the responsibilities of Israel as the occupying power to ensure that humanitarian aid is distributed safely.
BATRAWY: Israel's military did not answer NPR's questions on why it hasn't taken action against looting in areas of its control.
SHOHAYBR: (Non-English language spoken).
BATRAWY: Shohaybr says Gaza's civil police is able to provide protection to his drivers and the roads they take, but he notes Israel is killing police across Gaza. Israel says the police are part of Hamas, the group that attacked Israel last year and that the military is trying to eliminate. Israeli officials say any restrictions on aid are to prevent Hamas from benefiting, and that Hamas - whose leaders are also wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes - is behind the looting. But just days after the U.N. convoy was attacked, Hamas security forces killed around 20 of the suspected looters. Here's Dujarric of the U.N. again.
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DUJARRIC: The solution lies in opening more entry points into Gaza and allowing the use of additional internal routes. Both steps require actions by Israeli authorities.
BATRAWY: According to morgue records seen by NPR, among those killed was the brother of Yasser Abu Shabab, the leader of Gaza's most notorious gang. The next day, Abu Shabab's men used three trucks to block the main route for aid into Gaza. All this has driven up the cost of food. A bag of flour is now $200. Food kitchens and aid warehouses are empty. Awad Abed, a father of five starving children, was so desperate for flour, he went to Abu Shabab to buy some on the cheap.
AWAD ABED: (Through interpreter) When we reached the place, we found armed men. They shot at us. We did not even get close to them, but they shot at us and said, only the rich traders can come here for flour."
BATRAWY: Abed returned to his tent and kids without food. Aya Batrawy, NPR News, Dubai, with Anas Baba in Gaza and reporting by Ahmed Abu Handa in Cairo.
(SOUNDBITE OF AKON SONG, "CRACK ROCK") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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