The biggest UN agency providing aid to Palestinians has said it is suspending deliveries through the main crossing between Israel and Gaza because of security concerns.
Israel has previously said that it facilitates the passage of aid into Gaza and accused Hamas of hijacking and stealing deliveries.
Kerem Shalom is the main route for delivering aid to the more than two million people in Gaza, which the UN has warned is on the brink of famine.
He said there had been a “breakdown of law and order” and that the responsibility to protect aid workers lay with Israel.
He accused Hamas of stealing aid deliveries and selling food at exorbitant prices as a means of maintaining control in the strip.
Due to security concerns, the largest UN agency that aids Palestinians has announced that it is stopping deliveries via the main crossing between Israel and Gaza.
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of Unrwa, urged Israel to uphold law and order after claiming that armed gangs had looted two recent convoys close to the Kerem Shalom crossing.
In the past, Israel has claimed that it makes it easier for aid to enter Gaza and charged Hamas with stealing and hijacking deliveries.
The primary route for delivering aid to Gaza’s population of over two million, which the UN has warned is in danger of starvation, is Kerem Shalom.
The distribution of supplies has been hampered by a string of violent thefts by criminal gangs in recent weeks, according to aid workers.
On November 16, masked men attacked a convoy of 109 food-carrying trucks, robbed 97 of the trucks, and held the drivers at gunpoint.
The main road away from Kerem Shalom was later blocked for two days by a notorious criminal family from Gaza, who erected iron barriers and allegedly opened fire on trucks attempting to reach an aid distribution point.
Locals and aid workers have also claimed that armed men operate in a restricted area near the Israel-Gaza border, right in front of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Mr. Lazzarini, who announced the delivery halt, claimed that the road away from the crossing “has not been safe for months” due to the incident last month and the theft of five additional lorries on Saturday.
The announcement also came after two others were killed in an Israeli strike on Saturday, along with three employees of the food charity World Central Kitchen (WCK).
According to Israel, a WCK employee who participated in the October 7 attacks was the strike’s target.
“Humanitarian aid delivery should never be hazardous or become a traumatic experience,” Mr. Lazzarini stated.
He claimed that a “breakdown of law and order” had occurred and that Israel was responsible for protecting aid workers.
The speaker stated that “they must ensure aid flows into Gaza safely and must refrain from attacks on humanitarian workers.”.
Kerem Shalom continues to be the main entry point for aid into Gaza, although Israel has opened several additional crossings into central and northern Gaza in recent months in response to international pressure to boost the flow.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed his government was letting “more than 3,000 calories a day for every man, woman, and child” into Gaza during a September speech to the United Nations.
He charged that in order to keep control of the strip, Hamas sold food at outrageous prices and stole aid deliveries.
The Israeli government’s civilian policy in Gaza is overseen by the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, who responded to Unrwa’s announcement by stating that other humanitarian organizations were providing aid.
It stated that it would keep working with the international community to boost the volume of aid entering Gaza via the Kerem Shalom Crossing and the other four crossings between Israel and Gaza.
According to a review conducted last month by the United Nations and a consortium of international charities, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, the number of aid shipments entering Gaza is lower than it has been since the conflict started in October 2023.
Additionally, it stated that in a “reasonable worst-case scenario, a risk of famine existed for the whole of the Gaza Strip” and that the “humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip [was] extremely grave and rapidly deteriorating.”.
“To prevent and alleviate this catastrophic situation, immediate action [was] required from all actors who are directly participating in the conflict, or have influence on its conduct,” according to the review.
