CNN
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A hungry Palestinian crowd broke into a UN warehouse in central Gaza on Wednesday, resulting in at least two deaths and multiple injuries as starvation worsened on the strip.
“The horde of hungry people have invaded the Al-Gafari warehouse at Dale Al-Barah, central Gaza, seeking pre-located food supplies for distribution,” the World Food Programme (WFP) said. “The initial reports show that two people have been killed and several have been injured in the tragic incident.”
It is unknown what caused the death and injury. WFP said it was working to verify the situation accurately, but emphasized that the tragedy reflects “surprising degradation conditions of the ground” directly linked to aid blockades.
Several videos and photos CNN saw show hundreds of people in the warehouse, grabbing any food they can find. The bloody face is seen in the photo while clenching a bag of flour.
Another video showed hundreds of people outside the warehouse carrying bags of what looked like flour, just as the shooting echoed through the background.
The incident at the WFP warehouse highlighted the accelerated humanitarian disaster in the besieged enclave. The 11-week Israeli lockdown on humanitarian aid has pushed Gaza’s population of more than 2 million Palestinians to starve, resuming the first reopening of humanitarian aid in enclaves that were besieged last week.
“The humanitarian needs have gone out of control after 80 days of complete lockdown of all food aid and other aid to Gaza,” the UN agency said.
The warehouse contains important stocks containing flour intended for a systematic distribution of aid, and is now compromised by despair.
“WFP has consistently warned of the incredible degradation on the ground and the risks placed on the risks imposed by hungry people with hopeless support,” he said.
“Gaza needs immediate scale-up of food aid, which is the only way to reassure people that they don’t starve,” he added.
The UNRWA Public Relations Office in Gaza called it an “unfortunate incident” at the WFP warehouse, saying, “Sadly, once again, people are being forced to take desperate steps as a result of the ongoing Israeli lockdown on food and supplies invasion into the Gaza Strip.”
Wednesday’s loot comes the day after chaos broke out at a Gaza aid distribution site run by a controversial US support group as thousands of desperate Palestinians rushed to receive food supplies.
Videos from the distribution site of Tel al Sultan, run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), appeared to rush the facility to show massive crowds, demolish parts of the fencing and climb barriers designed to control the flow of the crowd.
Palestinian health officials said one person was shot dead and 48 people were injured in the incident on Tuesday.
Security sources said the US security contractor on the ground did not fire the shots and that operation will resume at the site on Wednesday. The Israeli Defense Force said their troops fired warning shots in areas outside the compound, and the situation was controlled. They refused to carry out the air fire towards the property.
Wednesday marked 600 days of Israeli war against Hamas following the fatal attack on October 7th, with military operations showing no signs of decline despite rising international condemnations, including many of Israeli allies.
Speaking to CNN from Deial Al Bhara in central Gaza, Abu Amur said, “600 days passed us just like we did in 600.” Palestinians said they fear death from Israel’s strike or hunger.
“Hunger is killing us,” Abu Amr said. He called on the United States to end Israeli support and mediate the end of the war. “We call on America and call on all Western countries to stand with us,” he said.
More than 54,000 Gazaans have been killed since the Israeli war on the enclave began 600 days ago, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and extremists.
The two-month ceasefire in Gaza, which began in late January, collapsed on March 18th as Israel renewed its artillery fire. Israeli strikes have since killed more than 3,900 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Aziz El-Kahnoot, another displaced person in Deir Al-Balah, said “the smell of death has not left us for 600 days,” adding that Gaza civilians have been “hostages” as the war intensifies.
Israel is expected to occupy 75% of Gaza within two months as part of a new attack on the besieged territory, Israeli military officials told CNN earlier this week.
If implemented, the plan will force over two million Palestinians into a quarter of the already determined coastal enclave, surrounded by almost all flanks by Israeli forces. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the entire population will be evacuated to southern Gaza earlier this month.
Sigrid Karg, interim UN special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, said on Wednesday that the Gaza crisis had plunged civilians into the “deep by” and called on Israel to “stop a catastrophic strike on civilian livelihoods and infrastructure.”
“The entire population of Gaza faces the risk of hunger,” Kaag warned during the briefing, saying that the limited aid allowed for the enclave “is comparable to a lifeboat after the ship sinks.
CNN’s Mohammad al-Swawi, just Khadder, and some of the Street Reports are tough.
