Gunfire, lawlessness and gang-like looters are preventing aid distribution in Gaza, an official says
A U.S. aid official says thousands of tons of food, medicines and other aid piled up on a Gaza beach isn’t reaching those in need because of a dire security situation on the groun
LARNACA, Cyprus — Thousands of tons of food, medicines and other aid piled up on a beach in war-torn Gaza is not reaching those in need because of a dire security situation and lawlessness on the ground, a U.S. aid official said Wednesday.
Truck drivers are getting caught in the crossfire or have their cargo seized by marauding “gang-like” groups, said Doug Strope, with the U.S. Agency for International Development.
The sense of desperation gripping ordinary Palestinians is only compounded by the combination of Gaza being an active combat zone and a prevailing “general sense of lawlessness,” Stropes told The Associated Press.
The security “that’s needed for the humanitarians to work is what’s really lacking right now,” the USAID official added.
The remarks are the latest amid international criticism over Israel’s campaign against Hamas as Gaza faces severe and widespread hunger. The eight-month war has largely cut off the flow of food, medicine and basic goods to Gaza, and people there are now totally dependent on aid.
The war was triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack in which the militants stormed into southern Israel, killed some 1,200 people and took about 250 hostage. Since then Israel's ground offensives and bombardments have killed more than 37,600 people in Gaza, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.
Over 80% of the territory’s 2.3 million people have been displaced. Palestinians in Gaza are heavily reliant on U.N. aid, which has only trickled in after
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