Latest news with #DeirAlBalah
Arab News
a day ago
- Health
- Arab News
UN condemns ‘armed individuals' for looting medical supplies in Gaza
UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations condemned Friday a group of 'armed individuals' for raiding warehouses in the Palestinian territory of Gaza and looting large amounts of medical supplies. The group 'stormed the warehouses at a field hospital in Deir Al-Balah, looting large quantities of medical equipment, supplies, medicines, nutritional supplements that was intended for malnourished children,' said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The stolen aid had been brought into war-ravaged Gaza just a day earlier, he said. 'As conditions on the ground further deteriorate and public order and safety breaks down, looting incidents continue to be reported,' he said. But Dujarric highlighted the difference between Friday's event and the looting two days earlier of a UN World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse by 'starving' Palestinians, desperate for aid. 'This appeared to be much more organized and much different from the looting we'd seen... in the past days,' he said. 'This was an organized operation with armed men.' Since the beginning of last week, Israel has begun to allow a trickle of aid into the Palestinian territory, after a total blockade imposed on March 2. The UN has warned that the aid allowed through so far was 'a drop in the ocean' of the towering needs in Gaza, after the blockade created dramatic shortages of food and medicine. The UN humanitarian agency warned Friday that '100 percent of the population (are) at risk of famine.' Gaza has been decimated by Israel's punishing military offensive on the territory, which has killed at least 54,321 people, mostly civilians, according to health ministry figures the UN considers reliable. It has also reduced much of the territory to rubble, destroying hospitals, schools, residential areas and basic road and sewage infrastructure. Israel launched its offensive in response to an unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, also mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. On Thursday, 'we and our humanitarian partners only managed to collect five truckloads of cargo from the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing,' Dujarric said. 'Another 60 trucks had to return to the crossing due to intense hostilities in the area.' He rejected Israeli allegations that the UN was not collecting available aid. 'It was no longer safe to use that road,' which Israel's military had asked aid organizations to use, he said, stressing that there are 'a lot of armed gangs' operating there. The five trucks that did make it through on Thursday were carrying medical supplies for the Deir Al-Balah field hospital. And most of those supplies 'were looted today, very sadly and tragically,' Dujarric said.
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Four people killed after starving Palestinians burst into UN food warehouse in Gaza
Large crowds of Palestinians burst into a UN warehouse in Deir al-Balah on 28 May after aid had trickled into the Palestinian enclave on the brink of famine. The 11-week siege and a continuing tight Israel blockade mean most people in Gaza are desperately hungry. Medics and aid workers in the devastated Palestinian territory have said for months that malnutrition is spreading. Bakeries operated by the UN World Food Programme have closed owing to a lack of cooking gas, and prices are soaring for the limited food available in shops and markets
CNN
3 days ago
- General
- CNN
Video captures Palestinians breaking into UN aid warehouse as famine conditions worsen
'Hordes of hungry people" broke into a UN warehouse in Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza, in search of food according to the World Food Programme. In the video footage, you can hear faint sounds of gunfire in the background. The WFP said initial reports indicate that two people died, and several were injured in the incident. It is unclear what caused the deaths and injuries and the WFP is investigating. The UN organization said the incident reflected 'alarming and deteriorating conditions on the ground' directly linked to Israel's aid blockade. It comes as the United States readies new terms for a possible ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
CNN
3 days ago
- Health
- CNN
Video captures Palestinians breaking into UN aid warehouse as famine conditions worsen
'Hordes of hungry people" broke into a UN warehouse in Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza, in search of food according to the World Food Programme. In the video footage, you can hear faint sounds of gunfire in the background. The WFP said initial reports indicate that two people died, and several were injured in the incident. It is unclear what caused the deaths and injuries and the WFP is investigating. The UN organization said the incident reflected 'alarming and deteriorating conditions on the ground' directly linked to Israel's aid blockade. It comes as the United States readies new terms for a possible ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Irish Times
3 days ago
- General
- Irish Times
Four killed as hordes of Palestinians storm UN warehouse in search for food
The United Nations World Food Programme said 'hordes of hungry people' broke into one of the agency's warehouses in central Gaza on Wednesday. Reports indicated that four people died, two shot dead and two crushed by crowds, and several more were injured in the incident in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. 'Gaza needs an immediate scale-up of food assistance. This is the only way to reassure people that they will not starve,' WFP said in a statement. The deaths came a day after a crowd was fired upon while overrunning a new aid distribution site in the Gaza Strip set up by an Israeli and US-backed foundation, killing at least one Palestinian and wounding 48 others, Gaza's Health Ministry said. READ MORE Palestinian ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour broke down in tears as he described the suffering of children in Gaza. Video: Reuters The Red Cross Field Hospital said the wounded from that scene included women and children with gunshot wounds. People broke through the fences around the distribution site in Gaza on Tuesday, and an Associated Press journalist heard Israeli tank and gunfire, and saw a military helicopter firing flares. Earlier, UN official Ajith Sunghay had said 47 Palestinians were injured, mostly by gunfire, at the hub set up by an Israeli and US-backed foundation outside Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah. It was not yet known whether the death and injuries were caused by Israeli forces, private contractors or others. The foundation said its military contractors had not fired on the crowd but 'fell back' before resuming aid operations. Israel said its troops nearby had fired warning shots. The distribution hub outside Rafah was opened the day before by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which has been slated by Israel to take over aid operations. The UN and other humanitarian organisations have rejected the new system, saying it will not be able to meet the needs of Gaza's 2.3 million people and allows Israel to use food as a weapon to control the population. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that 'there was some loss of control momentarily' at the distribution point, adding that 'happily, we brought it under control'. He repeated that Israel plans to move Gaza's entire population to a 'sterile zone' at the southern end of the territory while troops fight Hamas elsewhere. Palestinians have become desperate for food after nearly three months of Israeli blockade pushed Gaza to the brink of famine. Meanwhile, Mr Netanyahu said Israel has killed senior Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar, apparently confirming his death in a recent air strike in Gaza. Speaking before parliament, Mr Netanyahu included Mr Sinwar in a list of Hamas leaders killed in Israeli strikes. Mohammed Sinwar is the brother of Yahya Sinwar, one of the masterminds of Hamas's October 7th attack, who was killed by Israeli forces last year. In a separate development, Israel said it had carried out air strikes on the international airport in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, after Iran-backed Houthi rebels fired several missiles at the country in recent days, without causing casualties. The Israeli military said it destroyed aircraft used by the rebels. Israel last struck the airport in Sanaa on May 6th, destroying the airport's terminal and leaving its runway riddled with craters. Some flights resumed to Sanaa on May 17th. - Agencies
