UN halts aid deliveries into Gaza after looting by armed gangs

Asma Al-Kharobi, 16, feeds her 10-month-old baby sister bread mixed with water at a camp for displaced Palestinians in Deir al-Balah. Credit: AP

The UN has said it is stopping the delivery of aid into Gaza through the strip's main cargo crossing because of the threat posed by armed gangs.

UNWRA, the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees, said five aid trucks were targeted after passing through the Kerem Shalom route on Saturday.

Scott Anderson, director of UNRWA affairs in Gaza, said: “We’ve kind of reached a point where it makes no sense to continue to try to move aid if it’s just gonna be looted.”

In mid November, almost 100 lorries were looted by armed men. Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, blamed Israel for the breakdown in law and order, and accused it of making political decisions to restrict aid.

A spokesman for Unicef, Ammar Ammar, called the security situation “unacceptable” and said it was evaluating its operations at the crossing.

The Israeli military pledged to continue to work with the international community to increase aid into Gaza through Kerem Shalom and other crossings.

It said UNRWA coordinated less than ten percent of the aid that entered Gaza in November.

The Israeli military had accused UNRWA of allowing Hamas to infiltrate the organisation, allegations the agency denies. Last month, Israel passed laws to ban it from operating in the country.

UNRWA's decision comes after an Israeli airstrike on a vehicle carrying employees of food relief charity World Central Kitchen killed five people on Saturday.

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The organisation said it was "heartbroken" by the incident and was pausing its operations in Gaza.

Meanwhile, Israel has continued launching airstrikes on Gaza as a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah forces in Lebanon appears to hold.

At least six people were killed in an Israeli attack on the Al Muwasi tent camp overnight, including two children under the age of ten, health officials said on Sunday.

A separate strike in the southern city of Rafah, on the border with Egypt, killed four men. The Israeli military said it was not aware of strikes in either location.

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