A convoy of 109 aid trucks was "violently looted" in Gaza over the weekend as masked men threw grenades and held drivers at gunpoint, according to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). The agency said 98 trucks were lost while passing through the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing with southern Gaza, per the Guardian. The Hamas-run interior ministry said its security staff working in cooperation with tribal committees killed "more than 20 members of gangs involved in stealing aid trucks," per the BBC. UNRWA described "injuries to transporters" and "extensive vehicle damage," per the Washington Post.
Speaking Monday, UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini said hundreds of people had also stormed a facility in Khan Younis on the belief that the aid had been delivered there. But "there was absolutely nothing to take from the warehouses," he said, per the BBC. He added Gaza has "become an impossible environment to operate in" given the "total breakdown of civil order." "Until four or five months ago, we still had local capacity, people who were escorting the convoy." But "this has completely gone," he said, noting gangs and families are fighting for resources.
The UN has warned of "imminent" famine in parts of Gaza, noting fewer aid trucks entered Gaza last month than in any other month since war erupted in October 2023. UNRWA has accused Israel of disregarding its legal obligations to ensure the population's basic needs are met. In an earlier statement, the Israeli military branch in charge of aid delivery said it was working "to assist with the pick-up of aid" that was piling up on the Gazan side of the Kerem Shalom crossing. An UNRWA official has alleged Israeli authorities instructed Saturday's convoy to depart at short notice via an unfamiliar route, per Reuters. (More Gaza stories.)
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