Israelis attack aid convoys sent to Palestinians

The war in Gaza is being fought on many fronts.

One of them is aid.

Months after some Israelis began protesting the entry of aid trucks into Gaza at the main Kerem Shalom crossing, the battle has shifted to other key intersections, where rival activist groups are doing their best to block or protect humanitarian convoys.

In recent weeks, social media has been flooded with images of blocked and ransacked humanitarian trucks.

Right-wing activists, including Jewish settlers living in the occupied West Bank, have posted dozens of videos online of crowds, including very young children, throwing food on the ground and trampling on aid boxes.

“It is important to stop the aid,” says one activist. “It’s the only way we can win. This is the only way we can get our hostages back.

Many argue that Gazans should receive nothing while Israeli hostages remain in captivity, and that providing aid to Gaza only serves to prolong the war.

In one video, a group of jubilant protesters dance and party atop a looted truck.

In another, one of the stranded trucks is on fire.

Other videos show Israeli militias stopping trucks in Jerusalem and demanding that drivers show papers proving they are not transporting aid to Gaza. Their faces are uncovered and they appear to act with impunity.

In the West Bank, at least two drivers who were not transporting goods to Gaza were pulled from their taxis and beaten.

Palestinian truck drivers say they are traumatized.

“I’m terrified of reaching the crossing point,” Adel Amro told the BBC.

“I’m afraid for my life.”

Mr. Amro was transporting commercially purchased goods from the West Bank to Gaza when he was attacked. Other targeted drivers are involved in transporting aid from Jordan, which must pass through the West Bank and Israel before reaching Gaza.

“We now take secondary roads, away from the main roads, because we fear the aggressiveness of the settlers,” he said.

But after a series of well-documented attacks, some Israelis are fighting back.

Peace activists have become accustomed to following the movements of their opponents on social networks and ensuring that they are present at the main crossing points.

At the Tarqumiya checkpoint, where trucks enter Israel from the southern West Bank, members of the Standing Together group now hold regular vigils.

Tarqumiya was the scene of one of the most dramatic recent attacks.

“People in Gaza are starving and help should come to Gaza,” said Suf Patishi, one of the founding members of Standing Together.

“Israeli society should say with a loud and clear voice that we are opposed to these acts,” he said of the recent attacks on convoys.

“It’s not much to ask, not to starve, you know.”

The group brings together Jews and Arabs from across Israel.

For Nasser Odat, an Israeli Arab from Haifa, coming to Tarqumiya was a welcome opportunity to feel useful, after more than seven months of helplessly watching the war in Gaza.

“I feel very empowered,” he said. “Now, finally, I have something I can do to help.” To help these people who are dying of hunger.

As peace activists sheltered from the scorching sun under palm trees in the center of a roundabout, passing truck drivers waved and honked their horns in gratitude.

A small group of right-wing demonstrators arrived but were greatly outnumbered by Mr. Patishi’s volunteers.

The two sides debated their divergent positions in increasingly heated discussions.

Police officers stood nearby, ready to separate the opposing camps in the event of blows.

Peace activists have accused the police, under the control of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, one of the toughest members of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, of doing little to stop the attacks.

They say there is evidence that settlers are receiving help from authorities and point to text messages in which groups staging attacks on aid trucks seek and receive help from police and the military.

“Many times the police were present in the areas at the time of the attacks, but they had no one to push them to act,” Mr. Patishi said.

“And it’s very sad because the police should respect the law.”

As trucks passed, two young women waved an Israeli flag but did not attempt to stop traffic.

The two, who asked to be identified as Ariel and Shira (not their real names), explained why they thought it was important to be there.

“Honestly, we would rather not have to do any blocking,” Ariel said.

“I don’t like to trash things. It’s not one of my favorite hobbies. But we prefer that to the death of our friends and family, which happens the longer this war goes on. »

Both women acknowledged that there may be a famine in Gaza, but were convinced that Hamas was stealing and hoarding aid rather than distributing it to those in need.

And they were not worried about the image of Israel projected by the scenes of humanitarian trucks being stopped, vandalized and set on fire.

“It’s time to stop caring what other people think,” Shira said, “and do what’s necessary to protect my life, to protect my family.”

As for the police, Ariel was dismissive.

“They won’t intervene if they’re not sure they can close it,” she said. “They’re not going to start something they can’t finish.”