Israeli-Backed Yasser Abu Shabab Behind Theft of Aid Trucks in Southern Gaza
Gaza (Quds News Network)- The Israeli-backed Yasser Abu Shabab gang was behind the looting of 70 aid trucks in southern Gaza on Wednesday, according to a confirmation by the Gaza police’s Sahm force.
On Wednesday, tribal leaders and units from the Sahm force, assigned to protect humanitarian aid convoys, succeeded in securing a small number of humanitarian aid trucks. These teams repelled looters backed by the Israeli army. The aid will be distributed through the World Food Programme (WFP).
However, on the same day, 70 aid trucks were looted in southern Gaza. Sahm obtained verified intelligence indicating that specific tribal and family leaders, acting under the orders of Yasser Abu Shabab, were involved in the looting.
Abu Shabab has a known history of drug smuggling and collaboration with extremist groups. His gang, consisting of over 200 armed individuals, has established a fortified base in an Israeli-controlled zone in Rafah. This area, referred to as a “death zone,” is typically inaccessible to Gaza residents, further raising suspicions of Israeli complicity in the gang’s activities.
Lately, the Palestinian resistance factions released footage showing his group engaging in Israeli covert operations. Some of these videos show Yasser’s men working in disguise alongside Israeli undercover units targeting Palestinians in Rafah.
“This act constitutes a grave violation of national and humanitarian principles and is unequivocally condemned by all sectors of the Palestinian community. Those involved have been identified by name,” Sahm said in a statement.
Sahm has issued a final ultimatum, giving 10 hours for the immediate return of all stolen aid to its designated and internationally recognized storage facilities.
The group added that it will take all necessary measures to ensure justice is served and the dignity of the people is upheld.
Yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz accused Hamas of controlling and stealing aid. In a joint statement, they said they ordered the army to prepare a new plan within 48 hours to “prevent Hamas from controlling humanitarian aid in Gaza.”
In response, Gaza’s Government Media Office said that these “claims are clearly intended to justify the ongoing blockade, the deliberate starvation of civilians, and the sustained obstruction of humanitarian aid for the 118th consecutive day.”
The Office added, “Palestinian families and local tribal groups, acting independently of the government or any political factions, have taken the initiative to secure aid convoys in northern Gaza. Their efforts represent a grassroots response aimed at providing limited food supplies to hundreds of thousands of starving civilians.”
The Office noted that these allegations “form part of a broader strategy by Israel to engineer chaos and misinformation as a pretext for maintaining the closure of crossings and denying essential humanitarian assistance.”
Akef Al-Masri, General Commissioner of the Tribal Affairs Authority in the Gaza Strip, also stated that the distribution process is currently being carried out through the relevant international and local institutions, in accordance with international standards.
“The role of the tribes concluded at the security phase.. We emphasize that the Israeli occupation continues to refuse, to this day, to permit UNRWA’s involvement in the distribution process. This represents a clear and blatant attempt to undermine and eliminate its role within the Strip. We strongly reaffirm our support for UNRWA and are fully prepared and committed to ensuring the continuation of its operations.”
On Thursday, local sources confirmed that the WFP began distributing bags of flour to residents in Gaza City and northern Gaza, with both eyewitnesses and videos showing people receiving the flour.
دعوات لعدم التوجه لمراكز توزيع المساعدات المحفوفة برصاص الاحتلال..
Israel continues to fuel chaos in Gaza. By allowing hunger, protecting armed gangs, and encouraging aid theft, Israel creates desperation, pushing starving Palestinians toward the Israel- and US-backed aid sites in Gaza which have turned into “mass death traps.”
For over a month now, those centers have become sites of daily massacres. From May 27 to June 25, Israeli forces killed 549 starved Palestinians and injured 4,066, including women and children, as they tried to access food. 39 people remain missing, many believed to be buried under rubble or kidnapped during the chaos.
On March 2, Israel announced the closure of Gaza’s main crossings, cutting off food, medical and humanitarian supplies, worsening a humanitarian crisis for 2.3 million Palestinians, according to reports by human rights organisations who have accused it of using starvation as a weapon of war against Palestinains.
An Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report last month warned that almost a quarter of the civilian population would face catastrophic levels of food insecurity (IPC Phase Five) in the coming months.
After more than 80 days of total blockade, starvation, and growing international outrage, limited aid has allegedly been distributed by the GHF, a scandal-plagued organization backed by the US and Israel, created to bypass the UN’s established aid delivery infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.
Most humanitarian organisations, including the UN, have distanced themselves from GHF, arguing that the group violates humanitarian principles by restricting aid to south and central Gaza, requiring Palestinians to walk long distances to collect aid, and only providing limited aid, among other critiques.
The UN confirmed that Israel is still blocking food from reaching starving Palestinians with only a few trucks of aid having reached Gaza.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned that “weaponizing aid in this manner may constitute crimes against humanity.”
The Houthi leader, Abdul Malik Al Houthi, warned that Israel’s recognition of ‘Somaliland’ marks a dangerous escalation, vowing that any Israeli presence there would face direct military targeting.
Relentless winter storms are turning Gaza’s humanitarian crisis into a life-threatening disaster, as UNRWA warns that rain, cold, and blocked aid are pushing displaced families toward despair and death.
