Israel-Gaza latest: Gaza enduring 'atrocious death and destruction', UN boss warns - as he demands Israelis allow 'flood' of aid

Sky News

23-05-2025

17:35:01
World's largest humanitarian organisation pleads with Israel for support after aid looted
The World Food Programme has pleaded with Israel to support its distribution of aid after its trucks were looted by desperate and hungry residents.
The world's largest humanitarian organisation said aid was stolen from 15 of its lorries late last night in southern Gaza en route to bakeries.
The WFP said it "cannot safely operate" under a distribution system that limits the number of sites where food can be accessed.
"Hunger, desperation, and anxiety over whether more food aid is coming is contributing to rising insecurity.
"We need support from the Israeli authorities to get far greater volumes of food assistance into Gaza faster, more consistently, and transported along safer routes, as was done during the ceasefire."
17:05:01
Analysis: Israel's aid policy is a complete mess - which forces starving people to 'go and find the food'
Israel's aid policy is a "complete mess" and will likely pull up to two million people towards a small southern beach with no sanitation, facilities or infrastructure, says defence and security analyst Michael Clarke.
Declining to coordinate with the UN's aid agency in Gaza, UNRWA, Israel wants to set up a new organisation made up of "inexperienced" private contractors called the Gaza Humanitarian Organisation, he says.
It will operate from four areas, three of which are in the south of the territory near Al Mawasi, explains Clarke.
"The Gaza Humanitarian Organisation is a completely untried private enterprise arrangement with the Israeli government and I'll be astonished if it can distribute anything like the aid that the UN says is required," says Clarke.
"Normally, food goes to starving people. In this case, starving people have got to go and find the food."
'It's historically unprecedented'
The UN says Israel is weaponising food distribution to pull people into the south of the country.
The United Nations agency UNRWA says it has a system that can administer 500-600 trucks of aid each day as they have done for years, Clarke says.
"Two million people are rattling around inside a devastated landscape from which they cannot escape.
"In my experience, I've never known a battlefield this small in which civilians can't get out of it, in this number.
"It's historically unprecedented, in my view."
16:32:43
Looting no surprise when mothers cannot feed their children, says UN aid chief
No one should be surprised aid is being looted when mothers and fathers have run out of food for their children, says the head of the UNRWA, the UN's humanitarian agency in Gaza.
Philippe Lazzarini said its people have been "starved and deprived of the basics including water and medicines for more than 11 weeks" during the Israeli blockade.
"The aid going in now is a needle in a haystack," he said, referring to the 100 or so trucks allowed in by Israel earlier this week.
"The least needed is 500-600 trucks every day managed through the UN including UNRWA .
"During the ceasefire, we brought in an average of 500-600 trucks a day without diversion or looting."
15:55:57
Netanyahu's attack on Starmer should be 'completely rejected' after overseeing Gaza 'catastrophe', expert argues
It is "ridiculous" for Benjamin Netanyahu to accuse Keir Starmer and the leaders of France and Canada of emboldening Hamas by criticising Israeli policy, according to an expert.
"Netanyahu himself has been one of Hamas's biggest supporters," says Matt Duss, executive vice president at the Centre for International Policy.
"Netanyahu's policy was to deliver, literally, bags of cash into Gaza to help sustain the Hamas government inside Gaza for the purposes of keeping the Palestinian leadership divided to prevent any negotiations that could lead to a Palestinian state.
"This was Netanyahu's policy that helped keep Hamas in power, this was the policy that enabled the October 7 attacks to happen.
"So to attack Starmer for this very late-coming criticism - and finally starting to put pressure on Netanyahu to change his policy in Gaza - I think should just be completely rejected right out of hand."
He is rightly facing increasing criticism, including in Israel, for endangering the lives of Palestinians and Israeli hostages, says Duss.
Watch below: Netanyahu's verbal attack on Starmer, Macron and Carney
Netanyahu "really wants to blur that line" between criticising Israeli government policy and antisemitism, Duss adds.
"Netanyahu's goal here is to conflate these things, to hide behind this shield, rather than to have to confront the very legitimate criticisms of his policy."
Duss says Netanyahu's policy in Gaza has been "a catastrophe since and even before October 7".
"Netanyahu has always wanted to prolong this war for his own political purposes."
15:27:36
UN demands Israel lets 'flood' of aid into Gaza amid 'atrocious death and destruction'
"All the aid authorised until now amounts to a teaspoon of aid when a flood of assistance is required," says UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres.
"The needs are massive and the obstacles are staggering."
Strict quotas, prohibitions of key supplies and unnecessary delay procedures are being imposed, he says.
"Meanwhile, the Israeli military offensive is intensifying with atrocious levels of death and destruction.
"Four-fifths of the territory of Gaza is a no-go zone for the people of Gaza."
He calls for a permanent ceasefire, the immediate release of hostages and full humanitarian access.
The UN has the personnel, distribution networks and community relationships necessary, says Guterres.
There are 9,000 trucks of supplies waiting, he says.
For context: Israel imposed a blockade on all supplies starting on 2 March, saying Hamas was seizing deliveries for its fighters - a charge the group denies.
Netanyahu allowed just 100 trucks carrying baby food and medical equipment into Gaza on Wednesday.
The UN has said a quarter of Gaza's 2.3 million people are at risk of famine.
The Gaza healthcare system has been barely functioning, with most of the medical facilities out of order, because of repeated Israeli military strikes, raids and the ban on the entry of medical supplies, medics say.
15:20:01
More aid enters Gaza - but how much is needed?
As we reported earlier (8.25am post) the Israeli military says 107 trucks carrying flour, food, medical equipment and pharmaceuticals entered Gaza yesterday.
Aid began to re-enter the Strip earlier this week after Israel lifted a blockade that began in early March.
However, 107 trucks is still well below the 500 per day the UN says crossed into the Palestinian territory before the war started in October 2023.
Israel contends, however, that a large amount of aid entered Gaza during the recent period of hostage and prisoner releases.
The Israeli government says that between 19 January and 2 March, 25,200 aid trucks carrying 447,538 tons of supplies crossed the border.
During that period, it puts the number of trucks going in weekly at 4,200.
That includes air drops at crossings.
Israel imposed the blockade on Gaza to try to put pressure on Hamas, which it blamed for causing hunger by stealing aid meant for civilians.
Hamas denies the allegation.
At a clinic in central Gaza, one medical worker told Sky News that almost half of all under-fives attending the facility have acute or severe acute malnutrition - compared to around one in 20 before Israel implemented its total blockade on 2 March.
Sky News understands that Israel has forbidden aid agencies from storing food and medication at warehouses, requiring that all food entering Gaza be taken directly to its final location.
14:50:01
France rejects Netanyahu attack
France has joined the UK in rejecting criticism from Benjamin Netanyahu that Emmanuel Macron, Sir Keir Starmer and Canada's Mark Carney are "on the wrong side of humanity" for criticising Israel's actions in Gaza.
Sophie Primas, a spokesperson for the French government, said France "does not accept this accusation".
"We do not confuse the Israeli people with the policies being pursued today by Benjamin Netanyahu," she says. "You know the great, immense reservations we have, particularly regarding what is happening in Gaza."
"I think we must de-escalate this rising tension between our two states and work to find lasting peace solutions for Israel and Palestine."
Earlier, UK armed forces minister Luke Pollard also rejected Netanyahu's strong criticism of Sir Keir Starmer (see 9am post).
14:20:01
In pictures: Israelis call for ceasefire near Gaza border
A growing number of Israelis are protesting the war in Gaza as mounting international pressure threatens to turn the country into a pariah on the world stage.
Below are the latest images from Sderot, near Israel's border with Gaza, where anti-war demonstrations have increased in recent months.
Protesters hold signs calling for Israel to "free ghetto Gaza" and "stop the genocide".
13:50:01
60 killed in Gaza in past 24 hours, health ministry says
Sixty Palestinians have been killed by Israel's military offensive in Gaza in the past 24 hours, the Hamas-run health ministry in the enclave has said.
According to its latest figures, 53,822 people have now been killed by Israel since the Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023.
A further 185 people have been injured during that time, it added.
The ministry's figures do not differentiate between Hamas fighters and civilians.
For context: While Israeli officials have cast doubt on the numbers killed in Gaza, several independent groups say the ministry's figures have proved to be largely reliable and broadly in line with those later produced by the UN and Israel itself.
Examination of data from previous Gaza conflicts, comparing the ministry's counts with post-war UN analysis, shows the initial data is largely accurate with, at most, a 10-12% discrepancy.