The looting of aid arriving in Gaza was made easier by the Israeli army targeting local police who otherwise could have prevented it, a group of non-governmental organizations said Friday.

A report from 29 NGOs, including Save the Children, Oxfam and Care, says humanitarian aid entering the Palestinian territory has fallen to a record low, with an average of 37 humanitarian trucks per day in October and 69 in the first week of november. .

This compares to an average of 500 per day before the unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas militants on Israel.

NGOs said that “simply counting the number of trucks” was no longer an adequate measure to assess the amount of aid reaching the people of the Gaza Strip.

“Looting is a recurring problem,” they said, calling the theft of goods “a consequence of Israel’s targeting of the remaining police forces in Gaza” as well as the shortage of essential goods, lack of routes and the closure of most crossing points which had resulted in “the despair of the population in these disastrous conditions”.

Relying on “media information”, the NGOs accused the Israeli army of “not having prevented the looting of aid trucks and armed gangs from extorting money from humanitarian organizations for their protection”.

In “some cases,” the report said, “remaining members of the local police force attempted to take action against looters, but were attacked by Israeli troops.”

The incidents took place “near or in view of Israeli forces without them intervening, even when truck drivers asked for help,” he added.

Between October 10 and November 13, Israeli airstrikes killed at least 20 aid workers, most of them from Palestinian organizations, according to the report.

“Staff were killed at home, in displacement camps and while providing life-saving assistance,” he added.

On Tuesday, Israel announced the opening of an additional crossing point into Gaza, a day before the US deadline to increase relief deliveries, but humanitarian agencies said this was not possible. sufficient.

The United States last month warned Israel to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza or risk a reduction in its military support.

A day before the deadline, the Israeli military said it had opened the Kissufim crossing “as part of the effort and commitment to increase the volume and routes of aid” to Gaza.

But the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) and eight aid groups said Israel was still not doing enough to deliver aid.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned last month that Israel had 30 days to step up aid deliveries to Gaza or risk losing some of Israel’s military assistance. Washington, its main arms supplier.