Gaza: World Food Program convoy looted by ‘desperate mob’ at entrance to enclave

Delivery of food aid to the Palestinian enclave remains difficult. A World Food Program (WFP) food convoy was blocked on Tuesday by the Israeli army at the entrance to the Gaza Strip and then looted by a “desperate mob”, the UN agency said. The Rome-based WFP said 14 trucks carrying about 200 tonnes of food waited for three hours at the Wadi Gaza crossing in the town of Zeitoun in the south-east of the enclave but were not allowed to proceed. .

The trucks were then looted by “desperate crowds who seized the cargo,” the WFP said in a statement. The agency said it was exploring all ways to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip, but the road was the only way to move enough food to prevent the famine that threatens the population of the Gaza Strip.

Tuesday’s airdrop, carried out in cooperation with the Jordanian Air Force, dropped six tons of food, enough for 20,000 people, the agency said. “Airdropping is a last resort and will not prevent famine. We need entry points into the northern Gaza Strip to deliver enough food to the half a million people who desperately need it,” said Karl Skau, WFP deputy executive director.

Inevitable famine

Last week, Karl Skau told the UN Security Council that famine is inevitable in the northern Gaza Strip if nothing changes. The UN estimates that 2.2 million people, the vast majority of the enclave’s population, are on the brink of famine, especially in the north, where Israeli forces are preventing aid from reaching them.

On Tuesday, the WFP said hunger had reached “catastrophic levels” in the north of the country. “Children are dying from hunger-related diseases and suffering from severe malnutrition,” the WFP said, calling for more entry points into the Gaza Strip, including in the north. The UN agency said a ceasefire was urgently needed.