Gaza’s humanitarian crisis has deepened as looters steal food from aid trucks, leaving residents struggling to survive. While Gazans risk their lives seeking supplies, armed individuals and gangs are grabbing what they can carry, reselling it on the black market.
The situation is dire for Um Balsam, a 35-year-old mother of six who fled her home after Israeli forces pushed deep into southern Gaza. With food dwindling and cash virtually non-existent, she finds herself in a grim reality where survival depends not just on what little aid trickles into the Strip but on who can get to it first.
“Stealing is haram, and nothing can justify it,” Um Balsam says. “But many of those people who steal are also unable to find a crumb of bread to feed their family, so they resort to stealing.” She describes how women – especially single mothers like herself – are often absent from scenes of aid drops due to violence and chaos.
A 22-year-old Hadi echoes Um Balsam’s sentiments. “It’s the Hunger Games. Exactly that,” he says, describing the scene at a recent aid drop where food was being looted by armed individuals.
The problem is not just individual thieves but also truck drivers who steal from aid trucks. In one incident, a truck driver was caught with 100 boxes of halva sweets worth 170 shekels each. Hadi attributes the issue to early March when prices began to spike, creating a market for thieves to exploit.
As the situation worsens, residents are forced to take riskier routes to avoid encountering these armed groups. “It’s the survival of the strongest out there,” Hadi says. “For some, the strength is being misused.”
The UNICEF Deputy Spokesman Ricardo Pires notes that the reality of the famine in Gaza has barely changed despite the creation of humanitarian corridors and airdropped aid. The trickle of aid creates perfect conditions for thieves to steal and resell food at inflated prices.
As Um Balsam puts it, “It’s more lethal than bombs and bullets.”
Source: https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/2025-08-05/ty-article-magazine/.premium/survival-of-the-strongest-gaza-looters-wreak-havoc-as-aid-seekers-remain-empty-handed/00000198-7a1e-d7c7-a5d8-7f1e7f2e0000