For over a month, Khaldun Hamad had refrained from heading toward the Zikim Crossing in northern Gaza to try to secure a bag of flour or other humanitarian aid.

It wasn’t that he didn’t need the food, but Hamad didn’t want to take the risk that came with making the trek some 10 kilometers northeast from his tent encampment.

The UN and other international organizations have been transporting trucks of aid from an IDF-guarded lot on the Gaza side of Zikim to warehouses and distribution sites elsewhere in the northern Strip.

But recent weeks have seen thousands of desperate Palestinians rushing the trucks shortly after they leave Zikim, climbing on top of the freight and frantically tearing open boxes to grab whatever food they can.

In the month of July, the overwhelming majority of UN aid was looted before it reached its intended destination. While aid has been trickling into Gaza over the past two months, the Israeli blockade that extended for the preceding 78 days brought food insecurity to dire levels, with many Palestinians too worried about finding their next meal to allow aid trucks to just pass by without stopping them.

The chaotic scenes near Zikim are similar to what unfolds at the three distribution sites operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in southern and central Gaza, where thousands of Palestinians fling through entrance gates and ransack boxes of food that are emptied minutes after distribution begins each day.

Weaker segments of the population most in need of aid are left empty-handed, while the strongest men win out — that is, if they make it there and back unscathed amid near-daily reports of the IDF opening fire on aid seekers.

The army contends that casualty numbers from such incidents reported by the Hamas-run health ministry are inflated, that it is sometimes Hamas operatives or other gunmen who are shooting at people trying to obtain aid, and that it only fires “warning shots” at those who pose a threat to troops.

Having heard many stories from family and friends about those killed or wounded trying to secure aid, 30-year-old Hamad has instead preferred purchasing aid from makeshift markets and street vendors. With Israel blocking almost all commercial goods from entering Gaza, much of what is sold is diverted aid, and costs have risen massively due to low supply and high demand.

To afford this food, Hamad and many other Gazans have started online fundraising campaigns that they have attached to their social media accounts.

But with the banking system in Gaza all but collapsed due to the war, those looking to deposit shekels........

© The Times of Israel