Feeding Gaza: Traders run gauntlet of bullets, bombs and bribes

July 4 (Reuters) - Mohammed describes a delivery job from hell.

"I get screwed on every shipment," the Gazan trader told Reuters. He said he has to fork out more than $14,000 for each truck of food he brings into the besieged enclave to pay sky-high transport costs, bribes to middlemen and protection from looters. That's up from $1,500-$4,000 before the war began in October.

"It's barely worth my while. But I need food, my neighbours need food, the whole of Gaza needs food."

Mohammed said he doesn't like it, but he's forced to hike prices of some fresh food like dairy products, fruit and chicken to 10 times their normal value just to break even, though he knows this puts them out of reach of many hungry Gazans.

He and 17 other people interviewed by Reuters, most of them traders and aid workers in Gaza with direct knowledge of the supply situation, described a chaotic system that often makes it too dangerous or costly for business owners to import food, even as aid agencies warn of the growing risk of famine.

Many of the people requested their full names be withheld to speak freely about sensitive matters, with traders like Mohammed saying they feared reprisals by local gangs or being blacklisted by the Israeli military for speaking out.

The bulk of the money spent on importing food goes on ballooning trucking costs, according to the people interviewed.

Drivers in Israel have increased their rates by as much as threefold because of attacks by Israeli protesters on trucks heading towards Gaza, they said. Cargoes also often have to wait for days, either near their departure points in the occupied West Bank or the Kerem Shalom border crossing from Israel into southern Gaza to be inspected by Israeli soldiers and approved to enter the enclave, they added, further driving up costs.

Once the goods finally make it into Gaza, the sources told Reuters, the hairiest part of the journey begins.

Another trader, Hamuda, who imports pickled vegetables, poultry and dairy goods from the West Bank, said he either pays off local criminal gangs or hires his own armed men to stand on top of the cargoes and ward off looters.

"It's anywhere from $200 to $800 for this. It's worth it for a cargo that can be worth up to $25,000," he said. "The guys I hire are friends or relatives, I need about 3-5 per truck."

Meanwhile, none of the private-sector goods have made it to northern Gaza, where aid agencies say hunger is most acute, because the Israeli military has closed that area off to their commercial deliveries, all eight traders said.

Two aid workers confirmed the only food available in northern Gaza is aid, with no commercial goods for sale. The Israeli military didn't comment on the availability of food for sale in the north, an area dominated by Gaza City and its environs.

The military, which oversees coordination of aid in Gaza, says it lets enough food in from Israel and Egypt for the entire population. It acknowledged aid agencies face "difficulties" in transporting food once it has entered through crossing points including Kerem Shalom, without specifying what the obstacles were.

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