katzenberger<p>In case you're wondering why <a href="https://tldr.nettime.org/tags/civilians" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>civilians</span></a> in <a href="https://tldr.nettime.org/tags/Gaza" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Gaza</span></a> keep asking for donations, and why fundraisers seem to collect "impressive" amounts of money that still don't seem to be enough:</p><p>The financial system works by giving <a href="https://tldr.nettime.org/tags/merchants" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>merchants</span></a> an incredible amount of power and money. A system to which civilians are exposed without defenses, because the existing system of aid distribution was deliberately destroyed, and civil order has broken down.</p><p>It works like this:</p><ul><li><p>Merchants make an obscene amount of money, which they hold in cash.</p></li><li><p>People can't withdraw any donations received using ATMs (I've seen people assuming there were functional ATMs…). They need to have their donations transferred to the accounts of merchants, which will pass on cash in return, subtracting a "fee" of 40% and more of the total amount.</p></li><li><p>Merchants are paying "mercenaries" which are collecting food at life-threatening aid distribution sites. Civilians and their families need to risk the life of one of their own, whenever they try to obtain something to eat. They're competing with the mercenaries.</p></li><li><p>If families don't want to starve, they're forced to buy their food at obscene prices from the same merchants that already extorted them with their money withdrawal scheme. Money that goes back to the merchants, fueling the cycle.</p></li></ul><p>This system is enabled by the war, the deliberate engineering of a dysfunctional system of aid distribution by <a href="https://tldr.nettime.org/tags/Israel" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Israel</span></a>, and Israel's deputizing and tolerance of criminal gangs.</p><p>It is sustained as a "helpful" part of the ongoing forced <a href="https://tldr.nettime.org/tags/displacement" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>displacement</span></a> and <a href="https://tldr.nettime.org/tags/genocide" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>genocide</span></a>.</p><p>It is accompanied by Israeli PR campaigns delighting in pointing at the "failure" of attempts at re-establishing at least fragments of the former aid distribution system. A "failure" that is carefully engineered and implemented by Israel:</p><p><a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-08-12/ty-article-magazine/.premium/dates-are-luxury-and-other-ways-israel-hinders-aid-trucks-from-reaching-starving-gazans/00000198-9e25-d1fc-a3d8-feadb97a0000" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Haaretz</a></p><p><a href="https://archive.ph/Eq4rk#selection-821.0-879.72" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Haaretz via archive.ph</a></p>