Israeli protesters on Tuesday succeeded in stopping a convoy of aid trucks at the Kerem Shalom Crossing between Israel and Egypt.
The demonstrations, which began exactly two weeks ago this Thursday, have pulled together Israelis from across the political spectrum who are incensed at the idea of allowing aid into the Gaza Strip, the majority of which ends up in the hands of Hamas according to Israel, while the terror group continues to hold Israeli hostages.
“It is impossible, on the one hand, fight Hamas to return the hostages and, on the other hand, send it food and fuel,” Rachel Touitou, a spokeswoman for Tzav 9, (“Order 9”), the group behind the protests, told JNS. “We cannot both fight Hamas and feed it.”
(JNS) Protesters blocked 132 trucks from entering Kerem Shalom on Tuesday, located at the southern tip of the Gaza Strip.
The success was a shot in the arm for Tzav 9, named after the Israel Defense Force’s “Order 8” for calling up reservists. (The protesters see themselves as reporting for duty, as a kind of “citizens’ reserves.”)
According to Touitou, one of the reasons Tzav 9 is enjoying widespread support is that it is “apolitical.” Most of the organizers don’t belong to any political party and the group is careful not to involve politicians. “We are really a grassroots movement,” she explained.
The group has blocked aid trucks at the Kerem Shalom and Nitzana crossings. (The group is not behind similar protests at the port of Ashdod, but supports all efforts to stop Gaza aid.)
One of Tzav 9’s leaders, Reut ben Haim, who lives in Netivot, a city about 10 miles from the Gaza border, posted a celebratory video on Tuesday.
“What a dizzying success. Today it happened and it’s thanks to you,” she said, pointing at the trucks behind her. “The trucks stand here full of food, water, supplies, everything that Hamas needs. But today they won’t reach the hands of Hamas because we’re here and we stopped it…and today, Hamas goes to sleep hungry.”
Israeli opposition to humanitarian aid for Gaza is growing, according to polls. A recent Channel 12 survey found 72% of the Israeli public is now against it. Touitou said comments made by Ronen Bar, director of the Israel Security Agency, at the end of January to the effect that 60%-to-70% of the aid goes to Hamas jolted Israelis.
Following Tuesday’s success, young protesters camped out overnight at the crossing. Protesters say they will remain there 24/7. Tsav 9 is also planning other activities, including a motorcycle and SUV convoy on Friday under the slogan, “Cut Hamas’s engine.”
Tzav 9 says the pressure needs to be kept up until the government gets the message that no more aid goes in until every hostage returns.
It looks as if the message has percolated upwards. On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly told a Likud faction meeting, “I have asked to examine the suspension of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip to prevent it from reaching Hamas, I asked the IDF to present alternatives to this as quickly as possible.”
“You can definitely see that our activity is receiving an echo in the Knesset and the government,” Touitou said. “They see there is growing support for actions, that they have a problem with a public that doesn’t understand why we are doing this, acting like idiots, shooting ourselves in the foot.”
Netanyahu has previously defended the transfer of aid shipments into Gaza.
At a Prime Minister’s Office press briefing on Tuesday, a government spokeswoman said that on Monday, “233 trucks entered carrying 3,435 tons of food, 20 tons of water, 530 tons of shelter equipment, 50 tons of medical supplies, 285 tons of mixed goods, four tankers of cooking gas and two tankers of fuel” had entered Gaza.
Asked about reports the majority of this aid was going to Hamas, the spokeswoman said the government agreed “it was a problem…Hamas doesn’t care about the people living in Gaza.”
On Jan. 27, Netanyahu, in reaction to the protests, said that the aid was critical to the war effort as it preserved international support. He said the IDF chief of staff had been “instructed to deal with the blockades because we need to ensure this minimal supply.”
Tzav 9, in a statement released the same day, said that Netanyahu wasn’t sending humanitarian aid, but anti-humanitarian aid.
“The hundreds of supply trucks to the Gaza Strip that enter the Gaza Strip every day are not humanitarian aid, but immediate supplies and oxygen for the murderous terrorist organization Hamas, which is fighting us,” they said.
