A convoy of 109 trucks was violently looted on Saturday after entering Gaza, resulting in the loss of 98 trucks, an official from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has said.
The looting is one of the worst such incidents in the more than 13-month-old Israeli assault on the besieged and bombarded enclave, Louise Wateridge, senior emergency officer for UNRWA, said on Monday.
The convoy carrying 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 Karem Abu Salem [Kerem Shalom] crossing with Gaza.
“This incident highlights the severity of access challenges of bringing aid into southern and central Gaza,” Wateridge said, adding that injuries occurred in the incident.
“The urgency of the crisis cannot be overstated; without immediate intervention, severe food shortages are set to worsen, further endangering the lives of over two million people who depend on humanitarian aid to survive,” she said.
UNRWA did not specify who carried out the looting.
Israel claims it does all it can to ensure that enough aid enters the coastal enclave, and that it does not prevent the entry of humanitarian aid.
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