Boy’s death in shootout to prevent attack on aid truck prompts Palestinian tribe to assault Rafah crossing

A young Palestinian boy from the Arja tribe was killed on Friday evening in an exchange of fire that took place between personnel responsible for guarding aid trucks entering the strip and a group which tried to seize the contents of one of the trucks, according to eyewitnesses and three sources, one of whom works on the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, who spoke to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity.

The incident took place on the Palestinian side of the crossing,  as the aid convoy was passing from Egypt through the Rafah border crossing and into the Gaza Strip.

In protest at the boy’s death, dozens of Arja tribe members attacked the crossing, setting car tires on fire in front of the gates and attempting to raid it, according to the sources. Eyewitnesses said they heard the sound of gunfire in the vicinity of the crossing on the same evening. 

A video of the incident circulating on social media showed civilians climbing over the crossing walls, approaching the aid trucks that were in the crossing hall and taking some of their contents. 

A security source told Mada Masr that the crossing facility wasn’t raided, but that civilians opened the crossing gates and attacked trucks carrying food aid that was bound for the Gaza Strip. The source said that security agencies on the Palestinian side restored control of the crossing and secured the convoy after the Palestinian police patrols arrived.

The police’s capacity to secure humanitarian aid as well as goods convoys supplied to private sector traders in the strip has been diminished as the Occupation military has directly targeted police personnel in recent weeks. 

In their absence, traders coordinating the entrance of goods into the strip for commercial sale have resorted instead to informal armed security contractors who protect the convoys by force, while humanitarian convoys are still secured by the police, according to an informed source in Rafah who spoke to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity. 

An incident similar to Friday’s took place in October, when members of the public assaulted an UNRWA warehouse in Khan Younis with batons and knives, seizing food, flour and personal hygiene items. 

At the time, UNRWA Director Thomas White said that society was on the brink of collapse under the pressure of extreme need of the strip’s residents. “The needs of the communities are immense, if only for basic survival, while the aid we receive is meagre and inconsistent,” White stated.

Israel prevented any goods or aid from entering the strip during the first weeks of its offensive on Gaza. When aid was finally allowed into the strip in November, the quantity was far below the amount that used to enter daily, and humanitarian agencies called for an urgent increase in supplies to stave off the crisis-level hunger affecting the entirety of the strip’s population. Egypt’s Foreign Ministry criticized “obstructive” Israeli security checks hampering the passage of goods into the strip on multiple occasions.