Gaza Interior Ministry Creates ‘Arrow Unit’ To Deal With Gangs Blackmailing Aid Groups

The Israeli army allows the bandits to run wild and does not prevent them from looting aid and demanding protection money from relief organizations

The government in the Gaza Strip recently set up a new police force tasked with “maintaining security,” particularly to deal with gangs that have been given a “free hand” by Israel, Palestinian sources told the Arabi21 outlet on 18 November.

The “special police force,” named the Arrow Unit, has been tasked by the Interior Ministry in Gaza “with maintaining security in the strip and monitoring prices in the markets, in an attempt to alleviate the chaos caused by the occupation,” the sources said.

The new force is made up of elements from Gaza’s police and security forces, as well as volunteers, the sources went on to say, adding that it was necessary to form such a unit to deal with “gangs” and “thieves” who have been given a “free hand” by Israel “to tamper with the security and livelihood of citizens.”

“The force moves to maintain security on the main roads, especially those through which aid from international organizations and commercial trucks loaded with goods pass, and secures their arrival to the designated warehouses in preparation for their distribution to those entitled to aid,” they said.

The Arrow Unit has been helping regulate prices in the strip’s local markets.

Another source cited by Arabi21 says the unit has been working undercover, with its members dressing in civilian clothing; it uses light weapons and has recently helped secure the passage of aid trucks to both northern and southern Gaza.

According to the report, the unit also “dealt with” groups of bandits and gangs who steal aid before it reaches international relief organizations operating in the Gaza Strip.

The Arrow Unit engaged in fierce clashes with these bandits on 18 November, killing over a dozen in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah.

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At least one member of the Arrow Unit was killed, as well as around 22 gang members, according to Palestinian media reports. Around 15 bandits were killed in an ambush laid by Arrow Unit fighters in the Kaf Miraj area in Rafah.

The clashes came as part of an operation launched by the Arrow Unit against the bandits, who have been consistently looting aid across the strip and worsening the dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Other Palestinian reports said the Arrow Unit has documented evidence of communication and collaboration between the bandits and the Israeli military.

Haaretz newspaper confirmed in a report last week that Israeli forces in Gaza have been permitting gangs to loot aid upon their entry into the strip. These gangs have been demanding protection money from international relief groups in exchange for the aid, which “often ends up sitting in warehouses that are under Israeli army control.”

“The armed attacks take place just a few hundred meters away from Israeli troops. Some aid groups say attacked truck drivers have even sought help from the IDF, but the army has refused to intervene. Moreover, they say, the army bars them from taking alternate roads that are considered safer,” Haaretz cited sources in Gaza as saying.

Late last month, the Government Media Office in Gaza confirmed that Israel was still preventing the entry of hundreds of thousands of humanitarian aid trucks into the besieged Gaza Strip.

The Israeli army has also repeatedly allowed settlers to intercept and vandalize aid trucks and the contents they carry prior to their entry into Gaza.

(The Cradle)