Hamas not looting Gaza aid lorries, says head of World Food Programme

Boy, four, dies of starvation in Gaza as humanitarian crisis deepens

A Palestinian boy eats a hot meal at a food distribution point in the Nuseirat camp for refugees. AFP

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Cindy McCain, the head of the UN World Food Programme, on Sunday denied Israel's claims that Hamas is looting food lorries in Gaza.

Israel and the US have frequently blamed looting by Hamas when justifying the delays in getting food into Gaza. Ms McCain's comments came the same day a four-year-old boy in Gaza died from malnutrition.

Speaking to CBS News, Ms McCain was asked if she had seen any evidence Hamas is stealing the small amounts of food that Israel is now allowing in to Gaza after more than two months of a total blockade.

“No, not at all. Not, in this round,” Ms McCain said. “These people (Gazans) are desperate. They see a World Food Programme truck coming in and they run for it. This doesn't have anything to do with Hamas or any kind of organised crime or anything. This has simply to do with the fact these people are starving to death.”

She said Israel is currently allowing about 100 food lorries into Gaza, whereas before the blockade about 600 were going in daily.

“This is a drop in the bucket as to what's needed right now,” she said. “We have 500,000 people inside of Gaza that are that are extremely food insecure and could be on the verge of famine if we don't help bring them back from that.”

Meanwhile, rescuers in Gaza said 22 people were killed and dozens more wounded in Israeli air strikes on Sunday. It comes after an Israeli strike killed nine children of one couple on Friday in the city of Khan Younis, according to Gaza's civil defence agency.

In recent days, Israel has allowed in a small amount of aid after banning shipments since March 2, but dozens of the aid lorries have been looted as law and order break down and desperation prevails.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has warned that the entire population of 2.3 million are at risk of famine.

“This is not the first child to die in Gaza as a result of starvation,” said Mahmoud Basal, a spokesman for Gaza’s civil defence, said of the death of the young boy.

“If food and drink are not allowed to reach the people of the Gaza Strip, we will witness many more deaths.”

The international community must “act to end this suffering”, he added.

Mr Guterres said on Thursday that Gazans were enduring “the cruellest phase” of the war, with the UN's World Food Programme warning that more than 70,000 children face acute levels of malnutrition.

“To avert famine and save lives, we need immediate, unrestricted and safe access to deliver,” the agency said.

A new, US-backed group called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is scheduled to begin delivering food into Gaza by the end of the month.

The UN has condemned the organisation as not being neutral and Ms McCain said she did not have a full understanding of its plans.

“A plan has ever been proposed to us. We really don't know what's coming around the bend,” she said.

Israel has intensified its military campaign in pursuit of Hamas in recent days, drawing international criticism over conditions being endured by Gazans.

Mr Basal said on Saturday that the civil defence had retrieved “the bodies of nine child martyrs, some of them charred, from the home of Dr Hamdi Al Najjar and his wife, Dr Alaa Al Najjar, all of whom were their children”.

Rescuers look for survivors and bodies among the rubble inside a destroyed building in Khan Younis on Friday. Reuters

Mr Al Najjar and another son of the couple, Adam, survived the strike but were seriously wounded, the authorities said. The family were taken to Nasser Hospital.

Civil defence agency video showed rescuers recovering badly burnt remains from the family's wrecked home.

Muneer Alboursh, director general of the Gaza Health Ministry, said on X that the strike took place shortly after Mr Al Najjar returned home from driving his wife, a paediatric specialist, to work at a medical centre.

“This is the reality our medical staff in Gaza endure. Words fall short in describing the pain,” he said, accusing Israel of “wiping out entire families”.

The Israeli army said it was reviewing reports on the strike. It said it had “struck a number of suspects who were identified operating from a structure” near its troops.