The United Nations warned Sunday that “civil order” was starting to collapse in Gaza after thousands of people ransacked its food warehouses in the war-torn Palestinian territory.
This developed as Israel declared the war had entered a “second stage,” stepping up its ground operations inside the Hamas-run enclave.
The UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said wheat, flour and other supplies had been pillaged at several warehouses.
“This is a worrying sign that civil order is starting to break down after three weeks of war and a tight siege,” said UNRWA’s Gaza chief Thomas White.
One of the warehouses in the central town of Deir al-Balah had been used to store supplies from humanitarian convoys that began crossing into Gaza from Egypt on October 21, it said.
“Thousands of people broke into several UNRWA warehouses and distribution centers in the middle and southern areas of the Gaza Strip, taking wheat flour and other basic survival items like hygiene supplies,” UNRWA said.
The conflict began on Oct. 7 when Hamas militants stormed across the Gaza border and went on the rampage in Israel, killing 1,400 people and kidnapping 230 others, Israeli officials say.
Since then, Israel has staged a withering bombardment that the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza says has killed more than 8,000 people in the Palestinian territory, half of them children.
Israel also imposed a total blockade on normal food, water, medicine and fuel deliveries into Gaza, with a first convoy of humanitarian aid entering only two weeks later.
Since then, UNRWA says 84 aid trucks have crossed into Gaza but aid agencies say the numbers are far too low. Before the conflict, UN figures showed an average of 500 trucks a day entering Gaza.
“Supplies on the market are running out while the humanitarian aid coming into the Gaza Strip on trucks from Egypt is insufficient,” said White.
“The needs of the communities are immense, if only for basic survival, while the aid we receive is meagre and inconsistent,” said the UN official.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday warned the situation in Gaza is declining rapidly as he repeated desperate appeals for a ceasefire to end the “nightmare” of bloodshed.
“The situation in Gaza is growing more desperate by the hour. I regret that instead of a critically needed humanitarian pause, supported by the international community, Israel has intensified its military operations,” Guterres said on a visit to Nepal’s capital Kathmandu.
“The number of civilians who have been killed and injured is totally unacceptable…The world is witnessing a humanitarian catastrophe taking place before our eyes.”
“More than two million people, with nowhere safe to go, are being denied the essentials for life – food, water, shelter and medical care – while being subjected to relentless bombardment. I urge all those with responsibility to step back from the brink,” Guterres added.
The UN’s top diplomat arrived in Nepal on a four-day visit following talks in Qatar.
“I reiterate my appeal for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages and the delivery of sustained humanitarian relief at a scale that meets the needs of the people of Gaza,” he said.
“We must join forces to end this nightmare for the people of Gaza, Israel and all those affected around the world, including here in Nepal.”
Ten Nepali students were killed in Israel during Hamas’s attack on Oct. 7, and one Nepali citizen is missing.
Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, voiced shock Saturday at the “intolerable level of human suffering,” urging all sides to de-escalate the conflict.
“This is a catastrophic failing that the world must not tolerate.”
Thousands of buildings have been flattened in the overcrowded territory of 2.4 million people, with more than half the population displaced as Israel imposed a near-total siege.
Israeli fighter jets dropped leaflets over Gaza City on Saturday, warning residents that the area was now a “battlefield,” that shelters in northern Gaza were not safe, and they should “evacuate immediately.”
The army delivered similar warnings earlier in its campaign, but many who fled south have returned home after failing to find refuge from Israeli bombing.
Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari reiterated Sunday that civilians should go south “to a safer area where they can receive water, food and medicine,” vowing that “the humanitarian efforts to Gaza, led by Egypt and the United States, will be expanding.”
Hamas authorities reported Sunday a “large number” of people killed overnight in strikes on two refugee camps in northern Gaza.
Israel’s Home Front Command earlier warned residents in the southern cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon of incoming missile and rocket attacks.
The intense strikes against Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, provided cover for Israeli ground forces to step up operations, ahead of an expected full-blown invasion. AFP
