Living It Up On Food Money In Gaza!

Egyptian border with Gaza

The Gaza Strip shares a 12km border with Egypt, known as the Rafah border. This border served as a vital lifeline for the people of Gaza, providing a connection to the outside world that was not directly controlled by Israel. However, the Rafah border was tightly controlled by Cairo for years, limiting how long it’s kept open down to as few as 32 days in a single year at some points. Despite the desperate need for aid in Gaza, Egypt has failed to facilitate the entry of life-saving aid to more than 2.2 million people, citing Israeli restrictions. 

Almost two million people - most of the population - are reported to have fled their homes and those who remain in northern Gaza are on the brink of famine, according to the United Nations. Even before the current conflict, about 80% of the population of Gaza was in need of humanitarian aid.

The desperate food situation comes after six months of conflict. Israel responded to the 7 October attacks by Hamas with an intense bombing campaign, followed by a ground invasion. This Israeli campaign continues under the pretext of undermining the military power of Hamas, the Palestinian political armed movement which runs Gaza.

In May 2024, Hamas hijacked a major humanitarian aid shipment that was delivered to Gaza from Jordan. The aid shipment was unloaded by the Jordanian military inside the Strip before being picked up by a humanitarian implementer for distribution inside Gaza. However, the aid was intercepted and diverted by Hamas on the ground in Gaza. 

The Pentagon reported that humanitarian aid trucks traveling to the war-torn Gaza shore were hijacked before reaching their destination. Some of the initial shipment of 569 metric tons of aid had been seized after it left the causeway built by the Pentagon.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) released drone footage claiming to capture instances of Hamas militants beating civilians and commandeering the aid in the Gaza Strip. The footage depicts terrorists hijacking aid trucks, physically assaulting civilians, and diverting essential supplies to a Hamas stronghold.

President Donald Trump, through his national press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said: "President Trump did more for Israel than any American President in history, and he took historic action in the Middle East that created unprecedented peace. When President Trump is back in the Oval Office, Israel will once again be protected, Iran will go back to being broke, terrorists will be hunted down, and the bloodshed will end.

Getting food to Gaza is not the problem, controlling nations including those who finance terrorist leaders and criminal gangs that profit from any tradable merchandise is a complex matter. It will require iron fisted control over critical elements of global banking to ensure responsible behaviors.