Gazans seen on trucks loaded with international aid entering Gaza through the Israeli Kerem Shalom Crossing, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 1, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)
After aid convoys looted by armed gangs of Gazans, UNRWA announces it has halted transfer of aid to Gaza through the primary crossing from Israel.
By World Israel News Staff
The United Nations relief agency tasked with supporting Palestinian Arabs has halted the transfer of aid to the Gaza Strip via the primary border crossing between Israel and the coastal enclave, following a spate of looting incidents.
On Sunday, Philippe Lazzarini commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) took to X/Twitter to announce that his agency has suspended aid transfers to Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing.
“We are pausing the delivery of aid through Kerem Shalom, the main crossing point for humanitarian aid into Gaza,” Lazzarini wrote.
Lazzarini noted that an entire convoy of food trucks was looted by armed Gazan gangs after entering the Strip on Saturday, adding that this was not the first time aid convoys had been hijacked or looted en masse.
“The road out of this crossing has not been safe for months. On 16 November, a large convoy of aid trucks was stolen by armed gangs.
Yesterday, we tried to bring in a few food trucks on the same route. They were all taken.”
“This difficult decision comes at a time hunger is rapidly deepening.
The delivery of humanitarian aid must never be dangerous or turn into an ordeal.”
Blaming Israel for the “breakdown in law and order” in the Gaza Strip, which was ruled by the Hamas terror organization prior to Israel’s invasion, Lazzarini tasked the IDF with providing security to aid convoys carrying goods into Gaza.
“The responsibility of protection of aid workers + supplies is with the State of Israel as the occupying power. They must ensure aid flows into Gaza safely & must refrain from attacks on humanitarian workers.”
“I call once again for a #ceasefire that would also secure the delivery of safe & uninterrupted aid to people in need.”
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