Late on Wednesday, the World Food Programme reported that “hordes of hungry people” entered the al-Ghafari warehouse in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, to search for food supplies.
Initial reports indicate that the tragic incident resulted in the deaths of two people and injuries for several others, according to a statement from WFP on X, adding that the details were still being confirmed.
“Gaza needs food assistance right away. Only by doing this can you reassure people that they won’t starve. WFP “requests urgently safe, unobstructed humanitarian access to enable orderly food distribution across Gaza immediately,” it continued.
Aid organizations have expressed concern that the amount of humanitarian supplies is not nearly enough despite Israel’s decision to end an 11-week blockade last week following growing international pressure.
When everyone in Gaza was at risk of famine, UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Sigrid Kaag, told the Security Council, the amount of aid Israel had so far allowed was “comparable to a lifeboat after the ship has sunk.”
At least 10 people were killed at the site of aid distribution
Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, stated to the Security Council that Israel would allow aid “for the immediate future” through the UN and the privately funded Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
Danon urged the UN to “put their egos aside and work with the new mechanism.”
The UN and other aid organizations have argued that the private aid program is not impartial.
Jonathan Whittall, a senior UN aid official for the occupied Palestinian territories, described this new scheme as “containment-based rationing that legitimizes a policy of deprivation by design.”
The UN has declined to participate in this initiative because it is “logically unworkable and goes against humanitarian principles” by utilizing aid as a tool in Israel’s wider efforts to depopulate Gaza, he said.
According to Gaza’s Government Media Office, at least 10 people were killed on Tuesday and Wednesday when Israeli forces fired shots at Palestinians seeking aid at the GHF site in southern Gaza.
When thousands of hungry Palestinians stormed the GHF site on Tuesday, injuries totaled dozens.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the foundation reported that it distributed the equivalent of 840, 262 meals.
Israeli attacks have claimed the lives of dozens.
At least 30 people were killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza on Thursday, according to medical sources told Al Jazeera.
Seven people were found dead in a kindergarten in Jabalia, northern Gaza, according to medical sources.
Source: Aljazeera
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