Deadly break-in at UN warehouse as aid trickles into Gaza
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Displaced Palestinians ferrying bags of food aid after storming a World Food Programme warehouse in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on May 28.
PHOTO: AFP
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CAIRO/JERUSALEM/UNITED NATIONS – A UN warehouse in war-torn Gaza was broken into by “hordes of hungry people” on May 28 as aid trickles into the Palestinian enclave on the brink of famine and the US readies new terms for a possible truce between Israel and Hamas.
The World Food Programme said initial reports were that two people had died and several more were injured at the central Gaza warehouse.
The UN agency appealed for an immediate scale-up of food aid “to reassure people that they will not starve”.
Eyewitness video independently verified by Reuters shows large crowds of people pushing into the warehouse and removing bags and boxes, as gunfire can be heard.
It was not immediately clear how the people may have been killed or injured in the incident.
Under growing international pressure, Israel ended an 11-week-long aid blockade on Gaza 10 days ago. It has allowed a limited amount of relief to be delivered via two avenues – the UN or the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
UN Middle East envoy Sigrid Kaag told the Security Council that the amount of aid Israel had so far allowed the UN to deliver was “comparable to a lifeboat after the ship has sunk” when everyone in Gaza was facing the risk of famine.
The US has been trying to broker a ceasefire. Israel – which resumed its military operation in Gaza in March after a brief truce – continued strikes on May 28, killing at least 30 people, Palestinian health officials said.
“We are on the precipice of sending out a new term sheet that hopefully will be delivered later on today,” Mr Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, said on May 28. “The President is going to review it.”
The war in Gaza was triggered on Oct 7, 2023, when Palestinian militants Hamas killed 1,200 people in southern Israel and took about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.
UN v GHF
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on May 28 that Israel’s killing of Hamas Gaza chief Mohammad Sinwar
Israel has accused Hamas of diverting and seizing aid supplies. Hamas has denied stealing aid.
At the UN, more than half the Security Council on May 28 called for the 15-member body to act on Gaza.
Slovenia’s UN Ambassador Samuel Zbogar said some members are working on a draft resolution to demand unimpeded aid access.
“Remaining silent is not an option,” he told the council.
Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon told the Security Council that Israel would allow aid deliveries “for the immediate future” via both the UN and the GHF, which began aid deliveries on May 26.
But Israel ultimately wants the UN to work through the GHF, which is using private US security and logistics companies to transport aid into Gaza for distribution by civilian teams at so-called secure distribution sites.
“The UN should put their ego aside and cooperate with the new mechanism,” Mr Danon told reporters before the council meeting.
The UN and other international aid groups have refused to work with the GHF because they say the plan is not neutral.
“This new scheme is surveillance-based rationing that legitimises a policy of deprivation by design,” Mr Jonathan Whittall, senior UN aid official for the occupied Palestinian territories, told reporters in Jerusalem on May 28.
“The UN has refused to participate in this scheme, warning that it is logistically unworkable and violates humanitarian principles by using aid as a tool in Israel’s broader efforts to depopulate areas of Gaza,” he said.
Warning shots
The US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told Reuters that it was “sad and disgusting” that the UN and other groups would not work with the GHF, describing the foundation’s aid distribution as “effective so far”.
The Israeli military on May 27 said it fired warning shots in the area outside a GHF distribution site, which was briefly rushed by people waiting for aid.
Footage shared on social media showed fences broken down by crowds as private security contractors fell back before restoring order.
“I am a big man, but I couldn’t hold back my tears when I saw the images of women, men and children racing for some food,” said Mr Rabah Rezik, 65, a father of seven from Gaza City.
The UN human rights office said on May 28 that 47 people had been injured on May 27 while seeking aid from the GHF, citing information from partners on the ground. It could not give a specific location of where people were injured. The GHF said no one was injured at the distribution site.
The foundation said aid distribution continued on May 28 without incident as it opened a second distribution hub. Across the two sites it has so far given out the equivalent of 840,262 meals. The GHF said it is working to open four sites and expand further in Gaza in the weeks ahead.
The UN said that since aid deliveries resumed last week, Israel had approved about 800 truckloads of relief.
But UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that fewer than 500 truckloads had made it to the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing, “where we and our partners could collect just over 200 of them – limited by insecurity and restricted access”.
Israel is under pressure over Gaza’s dire humanitarian situation.
France, Britain, Canada and Germany have said that they may take action if the military campaign is not halted. Italy on May 28 said the offensive had become unacceptable. REUTERS
