Heavy scrutiny and regulations block tons of aid from entering Gaza, groups claim

Boxes of Gaza-bound aid turned back by Israel on Sunday languished atop a truck and flatbed trailer parked meters from the border with Egypt, as exasperated drivers and UN officials criticized delays in sending food and medicine to the enclave.

Seven aid officials and three truckers interviewed by Reuters listed a host of obstacles, ranging from rejections of shipments for minor packing and paperwork issues to heavy scrutiny over possible dual military use for a range of goods, as well as short working hours at the Israeli border crossing.

Meanwhile dozens of aid groups on Thursday accused Israel of intentionally blocking aid agencies from distributing of millions of dollars’ worth of food and other assistance sitting in warehouses, claims that Israel denied.

The supplies seen by Reuters on Monday on the stalled truck and trailer outside Egypt’s Rafah Border Crossing carried blue logos of the World Health Organization and labels describing contents like topical medications and suction devices to clean wounds.

A WHO employee working at the border said the cargo was blocked for carrying “illegal medicines.” Reuters could not independently verify why the trucks were not allowed to enter Gaza and the Israeli military authority in charge of coordinating aid did not respond to a question about why they were not let into the enclave.

Responding to international outrage sparked by images of starving Gazans, Israel on July 27 announced measures to let more aid into Gaza. But aid agencies say only a fraction of what they send is getting in. Israel strongly denies limiting aid supplies and accuses Hamas of exploiting deliveries to boost its military capabilities.

Reuters visited Egypt’s border with Gaza on Monday on a trip organized by the Elders, a group of former world leaders set up by late South African president Nelson Mandela that backs a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Some Elders members have been highly critical of Israel’s conduct in Gaza, including former Irish president Mary Robinson and former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark, who joined the border trip.

Speaking to reporters at the Rafah Crossing, Clark expressed shock at the amount of aid turned back at the border.

“To see this crossing, which should be a place where people interact with each other, where people can come and go, where people aren’t under blockade, where people who are ill can leave to come out – to see it just silent for the people, it’s absolutely shocking for us,” Clark said.

‘Bureaucratic hurdles, delays’

Approvals and clearance procedures that got a shipment through the Rafah border crossing “within a few days” of arrival in Egypt during a ceasefire earlier in the war now took “minimum one month,” according to the WHO employee at the border.

On Monday, the Hamas-run Gaza government media office said at least 1,334 trucks had entered Gaza through all land crossings, including from Egypt, since the Israeli measures announced on July 27. Reuters could not independently confirm the reasons for the delays described in this article or the specific figures supplied by those interviewed.

Asked for its response to allegations of curbs on aid flows, the Israeli military agency that coordinates aid, COGAT, said Israel invests “considerable efforts” in aid distribution. It said about 300 trucks had been transferred daily in “recent weeks,” mostly carrying food, via all land crossings.

“Despite the claims made, the State of Israel allows and facilitates the provision of humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip without any quantitative limit on the number of aid trucks entering the Gaza Strip,” COGAT said. The agency did not address specific questions about aid shipment volumes.

In mid-July, Israel introduced a requirement that shipments of humanitarian aid arriving from Egypt undergo customs clearance. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Israel’s move led to “additional bureaucratic hurdles, delays and costs for humanitarian organizations.”

UN agencies were exempted from customs clearance in Egypt from July 27 to August 3, OCHA said in a report on August 6. While not officially extended, the exemption still appeared to be in place, it said. Other international groups could be exempted only on a case-by-case basis and only for health items.

Other aid groups have also complained that rigorous bureaucracy and regulations are stopping the operations.

A statement signed by dozens of aid groups and published on Thursday claimed that Israel is refusing to let a number of international nonprofits distribute aid in Gaza, leaving millions of dollars’ worth of food and other assistance sitting in warehouses and putting future aid operations at risk.

According to the letter, whose signatories include Oxfam and Doctors Without Borders (MSF), at least 60 requests to bring aid into Gaza were rejected in July alone.

The statement blamed a set of what it describes as onerous registration requirements put in place by Israel’s Defense Ministry in March, claiming that the procedure is motivated by politics and is unlawful and dangerous.

“Under these new rules, registration can be denied on the basis of vague and politicized criteria, such as alleged ‘delegitimization’ of the state of Israel,” the statement read.

According to COGAT, groups wishing to operate in Gaza must formally register with the Diaspora Affairs Ministry, submitting lists of employees for security screenings, among other requirements.

“Unfortunately, many aid organizations serve as a cover for hostile and sometimes violent activity,” Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli told AFP.

The aid group statement claimed that applicants must provide sensitive information about employees, as well as lists of private donors, warning that the groups “have no guarantees that handing over such information would not put staff at further risk, or be used to advance the government of Israel’s stated military and political aims.”

According to the groups, those who haven’t registered have been told they may be forced to shut down operations in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem within 60 days. It alleged that the process is designed to push out internationally recognized aid groups in favor of the US-supported Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and various countries’ airdrops of aid parcels.

In response, COGAT said the registration requirement is designed to “safeguard the integrity of the humanitarian system while preventing the infiltration of terrorist elements into the aid mechanism.”

“The reality is entirely the opposite of the claims that were published,” the agency said in a statement. “Israel acts to allow and facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, while the terrorist organization Hamas seeks to exploit the aid to strengthen its military capabilities and consolidate its control over the population. This is sometimes done under the cover of certain international aid organizations, whether knowingly or unknowingly.”

“The refusal of some international organizations to provide the information and cooperate with the registration process raises serious concerns about their true intentions and the possibility of ties between the organization or its employees and Hamas,” COGAT said.

According to COGAT, 20 groups have complied with requirements and are bringing in aid every day.

Israel has long accused Hamas of stealing aid entering the Strip, and since May, the government has relied on the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to manage food distribution centers.

On Tuesday, the IDF published footage it said showed terror operatives in the central Gaza Strip posing as members of the World Central Kitchen (WCK) humanitarian organization.

According to Hamas-controlled Palestinian health authorities, more than 200 Gazans have died of malnutrition or starvation in the war, which was triggered by the devastating Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

Israel has disputed the Gaza health ministry figures. On Monday, COGAT said a review by its medical experts found the number of deaths reported by the Gaza health ministry due to malnutrition was inflated, and most of those “allegedly dying from malnutrition” had pre-existing conditions.

A warehouse of rejected goods

Drivers coming from Egypt cannot go directly to the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing, which had been operated by the Hamas-run border authority but is now closed. Instead, they route to the Israeli crossing of Kerem Shalom, about 3 kilometers (two miles) to the south, where shipments undergo checks.

Kamel Atteiya Mohamed, an Egyptian truck driver, estimated that of the 200 or 300 trucks trying to get through this route every day, only 30 to 50 make it.

“They tell you, for example, that the pallet doesn’t have a sticker, the pallet is tilted, or the pallet is open from the top. This is no reason for us to return it,” he told Reuters. He said that while the Egyptian crossing was open day and night, drivers often arrived at Kerem Shalom only to find it closed, as it does not normally operate beyond weekday business hours.

“Every day it’s like this,” he said. “Honestly, we’re fed up.”

While COGAT did not address specific questions about the driver’s remarks and allegations of inflexible working hours, it said that “hundreds of truckloads of aid still await collection by the UN and international organizations” on the Palestinian side of the border crossings.

Speaking at the meeting with the Elders that Reuters attended, one UN World Food Program worker said that only 73 of the 400 trucks the agency had sent since July 27 had made it in.

Roughly 90 percent of the UN’s aid was looted before reaching its intended destination in the month of July, according to the body’s own figures. Israel has accused Hamas of stealing significant portions of aid, though UN officials maintain that most humanitarian assistance is taken by hungry Gazans due to the high levels of food insecurity.