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The Hamas-controlled Gaza Interior Ministry said on Monday that more than 20 Palestinian residents of Gaza were killed in a “crime prevention operation” by Hamas “security forces” and “tribal committees.”

In other words, Hamas killed at least 20 Palestinians accused of stealing humanitarian aid from a United Nations convoy over the weekend.

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“Today’s security operation will not be the last. This is the beginning of a large-scale security operation that has been planned for some time and it will expand to include everyone involved in the theft from the aid trucks,” officials from the Gaza Interior Ministry told a Hamas media outlet.

“Security forces will punish with an iron hand anyone involved in aiding the gangs of thieves,” they warned.

“The security operation is not directed against the tribes themselves, but its purpose is to eliminate the phenomenon of theft from trucks, which has had a significant impact on society, causing signs of hunger in the southern Gaza Strip,” they insisted.

“The security forces take pride in the Palestinian tribes in eastern Rafah, and the involvement of some of them in the theft plans will not harm the history of these families who have produced hundreds of martyrs,” the Hamas officials said.

The Palestinians are divided into numerous tribes and clans, which frequently declare they are completely subordinate to the central governments of Gaza and the West Bank. The tribal leadership structure has an uneasy relationship with groups like Hamas, which claims the Israelis hope to eliminate their government and replace it with a council of tribal leaders, who might not be interested in producing martyrs to feed the bloody ambitions of terrorist masterminds.

The theft of humanitarian aid that prompted Hamas to reportedly gun down dozens of Palestinians occurred on Saturday, when the U.N. Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) sent a convoy of 109 trucks filled with humanitarian aid into southern Gaza.

A gang of looters attacked the convoy, shot some of the drivers, and stole both the humanitarian aid and most of the trucks. Only 11 of the U.N. vehicles made it to their destination. UNRWA has been slow to report on how many casualties were sustained, or how much aid was stolen.

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The U.N. seem inclined to think the looting was perpetrated by desperate Gaza civilians, while the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has long accused Hamas of robbing aid convoys. Hamas has settled on blaming “gangs of thieves” working with the “occupation forces,” meaning the IDF.

“Security forces monitored conversations between the gangs of thieves and the occupation forces intended to cover up their actions, direct their missions, and provide security cover for them by officers of the internal security force of the occupation,” the Gaza Interior Ministry claimed.

“The security forces updated the Palestinian organizations on the action plan and they received a wide national front blessing,” the statement concluded.

According to UNRWA, the IDF asked the convoy to enter Gaza a day ahead of schedule and use an “alternate, unfamiliar route.” UNRWA officials complained the last-minute go-ahead and altered route created a “huge logistical risk” for its drivers.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres denounced both the looting and the murderous Hamas response through a spokesman on Tuesday.

“Armed looting has become systematic and must end immediately. It is hindering life saving aid operations and further endangering the lives of our staff,” said spokesman Sephane Dujarric.

“However, the use of law enforcement operations must be lawful, necessary and proportionate,” Dujarric added.

On Tuesday, the Washington Post obtained an internal U.N. memo that asserted gangs of looters in Gaza “may be benefiting from a passive, if not active, benevolence” or even “protection” from the IDF. 

According to the memo, one Gaza gang leader is working out of a “military-like compound” located in an area “restricted, controlled, and patrolled by the IDF.”

The Washington Post quoted transportation workers who claimed “Israeli forces within view of the attacks have also failed on multiple occasions to intervene as looting was underway.” The IDF denied these allegations.

The article quoted several U.N. officials, plus at least one U.S. official, who said Hamas is not behind the looting attacks. These officials said criminal gangs had become more powerful and dangerous as the IDF dismantled Hamas, plunging Gaza into anarchy.

Critics of UNRWA struck back by accusing the U.N. agency of concealing the identities of the convoy attackers and “covering up for Hamas,” as British Conservative MP Suella Braverman put it.

“The gaslighting of the international community and blaming of Israel for the actions of terrorists is disgraceful. UNRWA is not fit for purpose. Defund now,” Braverman said on Monday.