Food prices soar in Gaza after looting of almost 100 aid trucks worsens shortages
WHO says hijacking by armed men has aggravated already severe scarcity of food, medicine and other aid
Presumably the food is still there, in the place. Doubt anyone’s nicked it to sell in Israel.
#So, that the food is still there, feeding the same population – even if a different part of it – shouldn;t have that much effect on food prices overall.
It might well, however, reduce food prices to Hamas and increae them to those not in Hamas.
Reduce food prices to Hamas down to zero.
Or
They might be holding the food to ransom.
British supermarkets claim their prices are higher to compensate for shoplifting. This is incorrect?
There’s actually two markets operating. The supermarkets where shoplifting is a cost. And down the pub where the shoplifted items are sold cheaper where there’s no costs to the supplier. So the average price across all consumers is the pre-shoplifting supermarket price + the profit of the shoplifters. the second part only being paid by supermarket customers. So yes, average prices must be higher although the same amount of goods are being consumed. The money the shoplifters make come from somewhere.
The hijackers must be gaining from their endeavours or they wouldn’t do it, so someone must be paying for that. The aid food should reduce market prices, but it doesn’t because it doesn’t enter that market.
UNRWA is the civilian wing of Hamas so this isn’t really surprising.
“armed men” seems a bit vague. Are these Hamas terrorists screwing over the civilian population, or Gazan civilian gangs screwing over their neighbours? The former seems like a good argument for more Israeli action in the region. The latter seems a bit racist, a bit colonial, surely these are a noble people deserving protection?
The amount of aid entering the besieged Palestinian territory has dropped to an 11-month low
Hungry, Hungry Hamas!
You know, the more I think about this, the more it seems like raping and murdering all those innocent people, and the majority of Gazans dancing in the streets to celebrate it, was a bad idea.
I would guess that people (probably rightly) fear that this will disrupt future deliveries and are so hoarding/buying now what could wait until tomorrow.
Obviously this will be inflationary.
Stealing? I thought this was contrary to Islamic ethics, and also something that Hamas punished severely. So I’m having trouble believing this report., to be honest.
I’m more than a little surprised that the media, led by Al-Beeb, has reported this extremely inconvenient truth.
Lawlessness has led to systematic looting of about a third of all aid brought into Gaza, UN officials said. Some was taken by Hamas, which retains some influence in much of the territory, but most was stolen by criminal gangs for resale.
Criminal gains acting independently of Hamas? Perhaps the guardian have a man in Gaza who can substantiate this rather surprising claim. Anyway, even the UN is admitting that two thirds of all aid is getting through.
I wonder if Hamas should look into releasing the hostages, stopping the rocket attacks and turning over anyone left who was an architect of 7.10. It would surely mean more aid for Gazans.
Gaza is prime real estate in a great location, it could have been a wealthy tourist destination if the locals weren’t determined to kill Jews (and Christians, and Druze, and the Wrong Kind of Muslims).
Oh well.
John: I wonder if Hamas’s iron fist has been degraded sufficiently by the Israelis that the criminals can now operate more freely? Still a risky endeavour though given the Hamas concept of justice.
It’s an odd war where one of the belligerents is required to subsidise the other. Has this ever occurred anywhere else?
philip – yes:
UK ramps up aid funding to help feed more than 850,000 people in Yemen
We’re feeding and watering the Muslim militants who are firing missiles at our shipping.
– It might well, however, reduce food prices to Hamas and increae them to those not in Hamas.
Give it a couple of months then round up the well fed bastards.
What people forget about terrorist organisations is that they’re also mafia organisations.
The IRA in Belfast were exactly the same.
@ snag
What came first? The chicken or the egg?
What people forget about mafia organisations is that they’re also terrorist organisations.
Tim, you are right that the same amount of food will be serving the same number of people (both in aggregate terms), but I don’t think that ‘no significant change in food prices’ follows. The aid trucks were eventually going to be giving out food for free (or for the implicit cost of waiting in line for two days to get one day of food). The “gangsters” are going to giving our food at a cost – it seems that would have to affect the aggregate (ie, average) price of food. The gangsters have expropriated all of the benefit intended by the donors to fall on the food recipients (ie, the economic loss in obtaining and transporting food and giving it away) and keeping it for themselves.
‘We’re feeding and watering the Muslim militants who are firing missiles at our shipping.’
Yeah Steve. That one’s so stupid it always pisses me off!!