Almost 100 trucks loaded with food for Palestinians were brutally looted after their arrival in Gaza, marking one of the most significant aid losses during the 13 months of conflict in the region where hunger continues to escalate, according to two UN agencies.
The convoy, carrying food on Saturday and provided by UN agencies UNRWA and the World Food Programme (WFP), was directed by Israel to depart on short notice using an unfamiliar route from the Kerem Shalom border crossing, stated Louise Wateridge, Senior Emergency Officer at UNRWA.
Out of the 109-truck convoy, 98 trucks were targeted, and some of the drivers sustained injuries during the episode, Wateridge reported, although she did not specify who was responsible for the ambush.
“This … underscores the serious challenges in facilitating aid access to southern and central Gaza,” she remarked.
The Hamas-led interior ministry in Gaza announced that at least 20 individuals were killed during a security operation aimed at “gangs” involved in the looting of the trucks.
“More than 20 gang members linked to the theft of aid trucks were killed in a security operation conducted by law enforcement in collaboration with tribal committees,” the ministry mentioned in a statement.
A spokesperson for the WFP verified the looting, indicating that numerous routes in Gaza were currently impassable due to ongoing security concerns.
An Israeli official stated that Israel had been striving to improve the humanitarian situation since the conflict began, emphasizing that the predominant issue with aid deliveries was related to UN distribution difficulties.
A UN aid representative noted on Friday that access to aid in Gaza had plummeted, with deliveries to parts of the besieged northern region virtually impossible.
Medics report 20 fatalities due to Israeli strikes throughout Gaza.
Israeli military assaults across Gaza resulted in the deaths of 20 Palestinians, including six who were killed in attacks on tents sheltering displaced families, according to medical personnel.
Four individuals, including two children, lost their lives in an Israeli airstrike targeting a tent camp in Al-Mawasi, an area designated as a humanitarian zone; two others were killed in temporary shelters in Rafah, and another individual died from drone fire, health officials reported.
In Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza, medics indicated that an Israeli missile hit a home, claiming at least two lives and injuring multiple others.
Subsequently, an Israeli airstrike on a residential building in Gaza City resulted in seven fatalities and 10 injuries, medical personnel reported.
Another airstrike by the Israeli military took the lives of four individuals in the Nuseirat camp situated in central Gaza.
On the previous day, medical staff and residents asserted that dozens were killed or injured in an Israeli airstrike targeting a multi-floor residential structure in Beit Lahiya.
The Israeli military, engaged in conflict with the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza since October 2023, stated that it targeted “terrorist objectives” in Beit Lahiya.
No comments from Israeli officials regarding the latest incidents have been reported.
We need your consent to load this rte-player content. We use rte-player to manage additional content that may set cookies on your device and collect data regarding your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preferences
The Gaza health ministry reported that Israeli military actions had led to the deaths of 76 Palestinians in the last 24 hours.
At Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, family members of those killed in an Israeli airstrike on tents for displaced families gathered beside bodies wrapped in blankets and shrouds to pay their final respects before burial.
“My brother wasn’t the only victim; many others have been martyred in this horrifying manner,” stated Mohammed Aboul Hassan, who lost his brother in the incident.
“We remain steadfast, patient, and resilient, and by the will of God, we will never waver. We will maintain our endurance and patience,” he asserted.
The Israeli military deployed tanks and troops into Beit Lahiya and the adjacent towns of Beit Hanoun and Jabalia, the largest of Gaza’s eight historical refugee camps, early last month, claiming it was part of an operation against Hamas militants who conduct attacks and seek to regroup.
Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, reported that the hospital was under siege by Israeli forces, and the World Health Organization had been unable to deliver necessary supplies, such as food, medicine, and surgical equipment.
A displaced Palestinian woman carries her belongings as she flees Beit Lahia.
He mentioned that cases of child malnutrition were rising, and the hospital was functioning at minimal capacity.
“We receive distress calls daily, yet we are unable to provide assistance due to a lack of ambulances, creating a catastrophic situation,” he declared.
Israel claimed it had eliminated hundreds of militants in the three northern regions, which residents reported were cut off from Gaza City, complicating and perilous escape attempts.
Palestinians wait in a crowded queue for long hours to buy bread from the only bakery in Khan Younis.
The armed wings of Hamas and the militant group Islamic Jihad reported that they had killed numerous Israeli soldiers through anti-tank rocket and mortar fire during the same timeframe.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry indicated that over 43,800 individuals had been confirmed deceased since the onset of hostilities on October 7, 2023.
Latest updates from the Middle East.
On that fateful day, Hamas militants killed roughly 1,200 individuals in assaults on communities in southern Israel and captured dozens of the approximately 250 hostages they brought back to Gaza, according to Israeli estimates.
Jordan and Qatar called for “immediate” measures to “halt the unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe in northern Gaza,” as stated by their foreign ministers in a joint declaration, attributing it to “Israel’s failure to permit aid entry.”
The United States, Israel’s primary military supplier, proclaimed last week that Israel was not contravening US laws regarding the extent of aid entering Gaza but emphasized the need for further advancements.
Joyce Msuya, interim head of the UN humanitarian agency (OCHA), highlighted the situation more bluntly during a UN Security Council address last week.
“The daily cruelty witnessed in Gaza appears boundless,” she stated.
“Living conditions throughout Gaza are unfit for human survival,” Ms. Msuya emphasized.
