UN Reports 88 Percent of Aid Trucks Slated for Delivery in Gaza Since May Looted Along Routes

Latest Developments

• Aid Trucks Looted: Data from the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) showed that between May 19 and August 5, more than 2,600 trucks carrying humanitarian aid crossed from Israel into Gaza. However, only 300 of these trucks reached their intended destinations in Gaza during that period, with some 2,309 trucks being “intercepted” and looted along their delivery routes — undermining the recent claim of Tom Fletcher, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, that “the vast majority of the aid gets to civilians.” UNOPS’s data did not distinguish between the parties responsible for the interceptions, noting only that the aid was stolen by either “armed actors” or “hungry people.”  
• Private Merchants Permitted to Deliver Gaza Aid: Israel will begin to allow the controlled entry of goods into Gaza through local merchants, expanding the humanitarian effort to the private sector, according to an August 5 statement by the IDF’s unit for the Coordination of Government Affairs in the Territories (COGAT). The move “aims to increase the volume of aid entering the Gaza Strip, while reducing reliance on aid collection by the UN and international organizations,” COGAT said. The humanitarian expansion includes goods like “basic food products, baby food, fruits and vegetables, and hygiene supplies,” with payments for the purchase of the goods being “conducted via bank transfers only, under a monitoring and oversight mechanism.”
• GHF Provides Operational Update: Amidst the expansion of aid delivery efforts to Gaza, the U.S.- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation announced that it had delivered 1.8 million meals on August 5 alone, bringing the total number of meals delivered to date to over 108 million. “To meet the moment, we are working to expand operations and improve our communication channels to reach more people, and we continue to invite others in the humanitarian community to join us,” GHF Executive Director John Acree said. Separately, as part of a joint effort involving Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Germany, Belgium, and France, the IDF stated that 110 aid packages were airdropped into Gaza on August 5, bringing the total number of aid packages dropped since July 26 to 785.

FDD Expert Response

“The United Nations’ own statistics confirm that all of its aid mechanisms in Gaza are plagued by the same Darwinian obstacle — that strong and well-armed Palestinians loot and hoard aid that could feed the populace, reducing the effectiveness of centrally planned distribution. Even if Israel guarantees the supply of adequate amounts of aid into the territory, the uneven, cutthroat distribution of the aid within Gaza will lead to preventable suffering. But Hamas and other armed groups make out like bandits.” — David May, Research Manager and Senior Research Analyst

“The failure of the United Nations to effectively distribute aid in Gaza, as well as its grotesque practice of blaming Israel while turning a blind eye to Hamas, emphasizes the crying need for an alternative system of aid delivery. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has developed a model to bypass Hamas by directly distributing aid to those who need it; sadly, instead of helping the GHF refine that model and limit the risks to Palestinians arriving at its distribution sites, the international community seems determined to reinstate the failed UN system.” — Ben Cohen, Senior Analyst and Rapid Response Director

FDD Background and Analysis

“Palestinian Terror Organizations Release Videos of Emaciated Israeli Hostages as Witkoff, Huckabee Visit Gaza,” FDD Flash Brief

“Israel enables increased humanitarian aid for Gaza,” by Seth J. Frantzman

“Israel Announces Humanitarian Pauses and Safe Aid Corridors to Support UN Aid Delivery in Gaza,” FDD Flash Brief

“UAE, Jordan Slated to Resume Humanitarian Air Drops in Gaza,” FDD Flash Brief