Divided into pots, hungry people have raided a food supply warehouse in central Gaza, according to the UN World Food Programme (WFP). It is stated that two people have unfortunately passed away and several others have been injured during the incident. Additional information is still being verified by the program.
Video footage from AFP news agency captured crowds breaking into the Al-Ghafari warehouse in Deir Al-Balah and taking bags of flour and cartons of food, while gunshots were being fired. The origin of the gunshots remains unclear.
In a statement, the WFP highlighted that humanitarian needs in Gaza have escalated uncontrolled due to an almost three-month Israeli blockade that was recently eased.
The WFP emphasized that food supplies were already pre-positioned at the warehouse for distribution and urgently called for an increase in food aid to prevent starvation among the population. The program has consistently warned about the deteriorating conditions and urged against limiting humanitarian aid to those desperately in need.
Israeli authorities confirmed on Wednesday that 121 trucks carrying humanitarian aid, including flour and food, were transferred into Gaza. Israel had started allowing a limited amount of aid to enter Gaza last week.
A private aid distribution system known as the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GIF), supported by the US and Israel, has been controversial as it bypasses the UN and uses US security contractors. While the GHF claims it prevents aid theft by Hamas, the UN considers it unworkable and unethical. The UN Human Rights Office reported 47 injuries on Tuesday when desperate people overran a GHF distribution site in Rafah.
Additionally, a senior UN official stated that desperate crowds have been looting cargo from UN aid trucks. Jonathan Whittall, the head of the UN’s humanitarian office for the occupied Palestinian territories, clarified that there is no evidence of Hamas diverting aid coordinated through credible humanitarian channels. He pointed out that the real theft of relief goods has been carried out by criminal gangs, which the Israeli army allows to operate near the Kerem Shalom crossing point in Gaza.
The UN argues that increasing aid flow, like during the recent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, would minimize the threat of looting and enable the full utilization of the well-established network of distribution across the Gaza Strip.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0qg5z4lkj0o
