[Lauren]

NEARLY 100 AID TRUCKS CARRYING FOOD INTO WAR-TORN GAZA WERE HIJACKED AND LOOTED BY MASKED GUNMEN, ACCORDING TO THE UN AGENCY FOR PALESTINIAN REFUGEES, ALSO KNOWN AS UNRWA.

UN OFFICIALS SAID AS THE CONVOY OF TRUCKS CROSSED INTO GAZA SATURDAY, A CRIMINAL GAZA GANG HELD THE DRIVERS OF THE TRUCKS AT GUNPOINT – FORCED THEM OUT AND MADE THEM UNLOAD THE AID.

NEARLY 2 MILLION PALESTINIANS LIVING IN THE ENCLAVE DESPERATELY NEED FOOD AND SUPPLIES AS HUMANITARIAN AGENCIES WARN FOOD SHORTAGES IN GAZA WILL WORSEN AND HUNGER AMONG PALESTINIANS WILL GROW MORE SEVERE.

IN A POST ON X, UNRWA OFFICIALS SAID “WITHOUT IMMEDIATE INTERVENTION, SEVERE FOOD SHORTAGES ARE SET TO WORSEN, FURTHER ENDANGERING THE LIVES OF OVER 2 MILLION PEOPLE WHO DEPEND ON HUMANITARIAN AID TO SURVIVE.”

UNRWA’S COMMISSIONER GENERAL APPEARED ON CNN LAST WEEK – JUST DAYS BEFORE THE ATTACK SAYING GAZA IS “A POST-APOCALYPTIC ENVIRONMENT,” WITH “PEOPLE JUST WAITING TO BE KILLED, EITHER BY AIRSTRIKE, BY DISEASE, OR EVEN BY HUNGER.”

HE SAID NOW, THERE’S A “TOTAL BREAKDOWN OF CIVIL ORDER” AND THAT GAZA HAS BECOME “AN IMPOSSIBLE ENVIRONMENT TO OPERATE IN.”

THE MASKED GUNMEN HAVE NOT BEEN IDENTIFIED.

UNRWA ISSUED A SEPARATE STATEMENT ON X, ACCUSING ISRAELI AUTHORITIES OF IGNORING THEIR LEGAL OBLIGATIONS UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW TO MEET THE BASIC NEEDS AND ALLOW SAFE DELIVERY OF AID INTO GAZA.

UNRWA MEMBERS WERE ALSO ACCUSED OF PARTAKING IN HAMAS’ ATTACK AGAINST ISRAEL ON OCTOBER 7, 2023 – THE START OF THE ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR.

MEANWHILE, THE ISRAELI MILITARY HAS PREVIOUSLY ACCUSED HAMAS MILITANTS OF STEALING AID.

EARLY MONDAY, THE ISRAELI MILITARY AUTHORITY IN CHARGE OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS IN THE GAZA STRIP CALLED “COGAT” WROTE IN A STATEMENT ON X “WITH THE CHALLENGES THE UN AID ORGANIZATIONS EXPERIENCE IN DISTRIBUTING AID, WE ARE WORKING TOGETHER ON VARIOUS MEASURES THAT WILL FACILITATE THE TRANSFER OF AID” TO GAZANS IN NEED.