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Rabat – Israel has once again completely blocked aid supplies into Gaza, under the familiar pretext of preventing food from reaching Hamas.
After threats from Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to resign from the government, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a joint statement on Wednesday declaring that the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) will devise a plan within two days to “prevent Hamas from accessing aid.”
Netanyahu and Katz cited new, undisclosed information purportedly showing that Hamas was diverting aid meant for civilians in northern Gaza. While the statement withheld specifics, a video circulating on social media showed dozens of masked men—some armed with rifles but mostly carrying sticks—riding on aid trucks.
Hamas denied any involvement, a claim echoed by The Higher Commission for Tribal Affairs, led by Sheikh Abu Salman al-Mughni, which represents influential clans in Gaza.
The commission rejected Israel’s allegations, affirming that the trucks were protected as part of an aid security effort managed exclusively through tribal arrangements, with no Hamas participation.
“The clans came…to form a stance to prevent the aggressors and the thieves from stealing the food that belongs to our people,” al-Mughni stated, confirming that the secured aid was being delivered directly to families in Gaza.
The group emphasized that “all humanitarian aid is fully secured and directly overseen by the clans, and is distributed exclusively through international agencies.”
This aligns with the footage showing crowds around the trucks cheering and applauding, indicating the men on the trucks were indeed safeguarding the aid. Additional images online showed food being safely delivered to international agencies’ warehouses, a fact corroborated by eyewitnesses.
“It was families in Gaza who secured the trucks and ensured aid was uploaded at the WFP and UNICEF warehouses,” said Palestinian poet and Gaza genocide survivor Mosab Abu Toha on social media.
“Israel hates the fact that food will begin to be distributed in a way that upholds human dignity,” he added, commenting on Israel’s decision to halt the already scarce aid.
The clans committee also urged the UN Security Council to immediately dispatch a delegation to Gaza to monitor aid distribution on the ground and verify the transparency of the process.
“What has entered Gaza is a mere drop in the ocean compared to the needs of our suffering population – children, women, the elderly, the sick, and all our people,” the group reminded.
The World Food Programme said yesterday that it has only been able to deliver 9,000 metric tons of food to Gaza since 19 May—“less than one day’s worth of food for everyone for over four weeks.”
Clans—extended families bound by blood or marriage—play a crucial role in Gazan society. Throughout Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza, many clans have taken it upon themselves to secure aid convoys alongside civil society groups and factions—including Hamas.
While Israel has long made baseless accusations that the Palestinian resistance looted aid to justify its systematic starvation of Gaza, Netanyahu himself has been arming militias such as the Abu Shabab gang. These groups have been stealing aid and reselling to desperate Palestinians at exorbitant prices—all while posing as security guards under IOF protection.
These militias have also collaborated with the IOF in carrying out executions at the infamous US- Israel backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) “aid” sites, where over 400 Palestinians seeking assistance have been killed since late May.
