A hungry crowd of Palestinians broke into a United Nations warehouse in central Gaza on Wednesday, resulting in at least two deaths and multiple injuries as famine conditions worsen in the Strip.
“Hordes of hungry people broke into the WFP’s Al-Ghafari warehouse in Deir Al-Balah, Central Gaza, in search of food supplies that had been pre-positioned for distribution,” the World Food Programme (WFP) said. “Initial reports indicate two people died and several were injured in the tragic incident.”
It is unclear what caused the deaths and injuries. WFP said it is working to verify the exact circumstances, but emphasized the tragedy reflects “alarming and deteriorating conditions on the ground” directly linked to the aid blockade.
Several videos and photos seen by CNN show hundreds of people inside the warehouse, grabbing whatever food items they can find. A man with a bloodied face is seen in a photo as he clutches a bag of flour.
Another video showed hundreds of people outside the warehouse, carrying bags of what appears to be flour, as gunfire echoed in the background.
The incident at the WFP warehouse underscored the accelerating humanitarian disaster in the besieged enclave. An 11-week Israeli blockade on humanitarian aid has pushed Gaza’s population, of more than 2 million Palestinians, towards famine, with the first resumption of humanitarian aid trickling into the besieged enclave last week.
“Humanitarian needs have spiraled out of control after 80 days of complete blockade of all food assistance and other aid into Gaza,” stated the United Nations agency.
The warehouse contained vital stocks, including flour intended for systematic aid distribution, now compromised by the desperate act.
“WFP has consistently warned of alarming and deteriorating conditions on the ground and the risks imposed by limiting humanitarian aid to hungry people in desperate need of assistance,” it said.
“Gaza needs an immediate scale-up of food assistance. This is the only way to reassure people that they will not starve,” it added.
UNRWA Public Information Office in Gaza called it an “unfortunate incident” at the WFP warehouse, saying, “Sadly, once again, people are being forced to take desperate measures as a result of the ongoing Israeli blockade on the entry of food and supplies into the Gaza Strip.”
Wednesday’s looting comes a day after chaos broke out at an aid distribution site in Gaza run by a controversial US-backed group as thousands of desperate Palestinians rushed to receive food supplies, with Israeli troops firing warning shots into the air and the US contractors overseeing the site briefly withdrawing.
Videos from the distribution site in Tel al-Sultan, run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), showed large crowds rushing the facilities, tearing down some of the fencing and appearing to climb over barriers designed to control the flow of the crowd.
Palestinian health officials said one person had been shot dead and 48 wounded during Tuesday’s incident.
A security source said American security contractors on the ground did not fire any shots and that operations would resume at the site on Wednesday. The Israel Defense Forces said their troops fired warning shots in the area outside the compound and that the situation was brought under control. They denied carrying out aerial fire toward the site.
‘The smell of death hasn’t left us for 600 days’
Wednesday marks 600 days of Israel’s war against Hamas following the deadly October 7 attacks and the military operations show no signs of abating despite rising international condemnation, including from many of Israel allies.
Speaking to CNN from Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, Abu Amr said that “600 days went by us like 600 years.” The Palestinian man said that civilians fear death by either Israeli strikes or hunger, as limited aid trickles into the enclave.
“Hunger is killing us,” Abu Amr said, calling on the US to end its backing of Israel and broker an end to the war. “We call on America, we call on all Western countries to stand with us,” he said.
More than 54,000 Gazans have been killed since Israel’s war in the enclave began 600 days ago, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and militants.
A two-month ceasefire in Gaza that began in late January collapsed on March 18 as Israel renewed its bombardment. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Israeli strikes have killed more than 3,900 Palestinians since then.
Aziz El-Kahnoot, another displaced Palestinian living in Deir al-Balah, said: “The smell of death hasn’t left us for 600 days,” adding that civilians in Gaza are held “hostage” as the war rages on.
Israel plans to occupy 75% of Gaza within two months as part of its new offensive in the besieged territory, an Israeli military official told CNN earlier this week.
If carried out, the plans would force more than two million Palestinians into a quarter of the already decimated coastal enclave, surrounded on nearly all sides by Israeli forces. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier this month the entire population would be displaced to southern Gaza.
Sigrid Kaag, interim UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, said on Wednesday that the crisis in Gaza has plunged civilians into “an abyss” and called on Israel to “halt its devastating strikes on civilian life and infrastructure.”
“The entire population of Gaza is facing the risk of famine,” Kaag warned during a briefing, adding that the limited aid permitted into the enclave is “comparable to a lifeboat after the ship has sunk.
CNN’s Mohammad Al-Sawalhi, Kareem Khadder, and Nadeen Ebrahim contributed reporting.
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