Gaza aid looting being carried out by 'desperate' people, UNRWA says

Thefts are by-product of placing 2.2 million people under constant bombardment and deprivation, says agency

A Palestinian girl struggles to get food at a distribution point in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. AFP

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A quarter of 115 lorries carrying critical aid to Gaza have been looted by “desperate, hungry and traumatised” people who are living in deprivation, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees has said.

“The attempt to access food shouldn’t come as a surprise,” UNRWA spokeswoman Tamara Al Rifai told The National. She said the behaviour is a reflection of people's “hunger and despair”.

Ms Al Rifai compared the scenes of people climbing on to lorries in Gaza with incidents in some countries during the Covid-19 pandemic, when shops' shelves were emptied of supplies.

“People were ransacking supermarkets in the most sophisticated and affluent cities around the world. It's the same feeling of despair and fear of not being able to access food,” she said.

Israel had blocked aid from entering the Gaza Strip since March 2. It only allowed a minimal amount to enter a few days ago after mounting international pressure, including from some of its closest allies.

The volume of aid reaching Gaza was merely “a drop in the ocean of what is urgently needed”, said Tom Fletcher, the UN's under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief co-ordinator.

Gaza's Health Ministry has reported at least 57 child deaths from malnutrition since the blockade began. Mr Fletcher warned on Tuesday that thousands of babies could die soon without immediate intervention.

If more aid was allowed into Gaza, looting would diminish as people gained a sense of security and assurance that they would get enough food and assistance, Ms Al Rifai said.

She acknowledged the seriousness of the looting, but said it was a by-product of placing 2.2 million people under constant bombardment and depriving them of adequate food and water for 12 weeks.

“They are being used as a pawn in this conflict where aid has become one of the tactics of war,” she said.

The risks faced by the UN and other NGO workers is not limited to looting, Ms Al Rifai said. It also includes Israel's bombing campaigns, unexploded ordnance and damaged roads.

She said there are enough goods to fill 9,000 lorries in warehouses in Egypt and Jordan that are ready to be loaded and sent into Gaza the moment the borders open.

UNRWA says 310 members of staff have been killed in the conflict so far. “But our priority is to bring the aid in.”