Aid trucks looted amid Gaza food shortages

Crowds of Palestinians gathered in front of a soup kitchen in Khan Younis to receive rice meals, amid shortage of food and supplies in Gaza.

Some condemned the looting of nearly 100 food aid trucks on Nov.16.

Nearly 100 trucks carrying food for Palestinians were violently looted on Nov. 16 after entering Gaza in one of the worst aid losses during 13 months of war in the enclave, where hunger is deepening, two UN agencies said.

The convoy transporting food provided by UN agencies UNRWA and the World Food Programme was instructed by Israel to depart at short notice via an unfamiliar route from the Kerem Shalom border crossing, said Louise Wateridge, UNRWA Senior Emergency Officer.

Ninety-eight of the 109 trucks in the convoy were raided and some of the transporters were injured during the incident, she said, without detailing who carried out the ambush.

The Hamas TV channel Al-Aqsa quoted Hamas interior ministry sources in Gaza as saying that over 20 gang members involved in looting aid trucks were killed during an operation carried out by Hamas security forces in coordination with tribal committees.

It said anyone caught aiding such looting would be treated with "an iron fist."

A WFP spokesperson confirmed the looting and said that many routes in Gaza were currently impassable due to security issues.

An Israeli official said Israel had been working to address the humanitarian situation since the start of its war against Hamas, adding that the main problem with aid deliveries was UN distribution challenges.

A UN aid official said that access for aid to Gaza had reached a low point, with deliveries to parts of the Israeli-besieged north of the enclave all but impossible. Israel's devastating military campaign in Gaza was triggered by the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel.