Hungry Palestinians in Gaza block UN aid trucks. Hamas responds to a ceasefire proposal
TEL AVIV, Israel — Palestinians in the Gaza Strip blocked and offloaded dozens of food trucks, the U.N. World Food Program said Saturday, as desperation mounts following Israel's monthslong blockade while talks of a ceasefire inch forward.
Hamas said it has responded to a U.S. proposal for a temporary ceasefire, which Israeli officials have approved, but details of the response were not immediately known. U.S. President Donald Trump said negotiators were nearing a deal.
A ceasefire would pause the fighting for 60 days, release some of the 58 hostages still held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and much-needed food aid and other assistance, according to Hamas and Egyptian officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
The WFP said 77 trucks carrying aid, mostly flour, were stopped by hungry people who took the food before the trucks could reach their destination.
The nearly three-month Israeli blockade on Gaza has pushed the population of over 2 million to the brink of famine. While pressure slightly eased in recent days as Israel allowed some aid to enter, aid organizations say far from enough food is getting in.
The WFP said the fear of starvation in Gaza is high despite the aid that's entering now. 'We need to flood communities with food for the next few days to calm anxieties and rebuild the trust with communities that more food is coming,' it said in a statement — adding that it has over 140,000 metric tons of food — enough to feed Gazans for two months — ready to be brought in.
A witness in the southern city of Khan Younis told The Associated Press the U.N. convoy was stopped at a makeshift roadblock and offloaded by desperate civilians in their thousands. Most people carried bags of flour. He said at one point a forklift was used to offload pallets. The witness spoke on condition of anonymity because of fear of reprisal.
The United Nations said earlier this month that Israeli authorities have forced them to use unsecured routes within areas controlled by Israel's military in the eastern areas of Rafah and Khan Younis, where armed gangs are active and trucks were stopped.
Israel's military didn't immediately respond to questions.
An internal document shared with aid groups about security incidents, seen by the AP, said there were four incidents of facilities being looted in three days at the end of May, not including Saturday's.
The U.N. says it has been unable to get enough aid in because of fighting. On Friday, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said it only picked up five truckloads of cargo from the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing, and the other 60 trucks had to return due to intense hostilities.
A new U.S- and Israeli-backed foundation started operations in Gaza this week, distributing food at several sites in a chaotic rollout.
Israel says the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation eventually will replace the aid operation that the U.N. and others have carried out during nearly 20 months of war. It says the new mechanism is necessary, accusing Hamas of siphoning off large amounts of aid. The U.N. denies that significant diversion takes place.
The GHF works with armed contractors, which it says are needed to distribute food safely. Aid groups have accused the foundation of militarizing aid.
Israel continued its military campaign across Gaza, saying it struck dozens of targets over the past day. Gaza's Health Ministry said at least 60 people were killed by Israeli strikes in the past 24 hours.
The ministry said three people were killed by Israeli gunfire early Saturday in Rafah. Three others were killed — parents and a child — when their car was struck in Gaza City. An Israeli strike hit another car in Gaza City, killing four. And an Israeli strike hit a tent sheltering displaced people in Khan Younis, killing six, said Weam Fares, a spokesperson for Nasser Hospital.
The war began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking 250 hostages. Of those taken captive, 58 remain in Gaza. Israel believes 35 are dead and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said there are 'doubts' about the fate of several others.
Israeli strikes have killed more than 54,000 Gaza residents, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally.
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