The delivery of food aid is still difficult in the Palestinian enclave.
A food convoy from the World Food Program (WFP) was blocked on Tuesday by the Israeli army at the entrance to the Gaza Strip and then looted by "a desperate crowd", the UN agency said.
The WFP, headquartered in Rome, said the 14 trucks carrying around 200 tons of food had waited for three hours at the Wadi Gaza checkpoint, in the town of Zeitun in the southeast of the enclave, but did not had not received authorization to go further.
The trucks were then looted by “a desperate crowd who seized the load,” the WFP said in a statement.
The agency said it was exploring all means of delivering aid to the Gaza Strip, but that the road was the only way to transport enough food to avert the famine that threatens the Gaza population. the enclave.
An airdrop carried out on Tuesday, in collaboration with the Jordanian Air Force, dropped six tonnes of food, enough for 20,000 people, the agency said.
“Airdrops are a solution of last resort and will not prevent famine.
We need entry points into northern Gaza to deliver enough food for half a million people who desperately need it,” said Carl Skau, WFP Deputy Executive Director.
Imminent famine
Last week, Carl Skau told the United Nations Security Council that famine was imminent in the northern Gaza Strip if nothing changed.
The UN estimates that 2.2 million people, the vast majority of the enclave's population, are on the brink of famine, particularly in the north, where Israeli forces are preventing aid from entering.
On Tuesday, the WFP said hunger had reached “catastrophic levels” in the north.
“Children are dying from hunger-related illnesses and suffering from severe malnutrition,” described the WFP, calling for an increase in entry points into the Gaza Strip, including in the north.
The UN agency said a ceasefire is urgently needed.