JERUSALEM (AP) 鈥� The United Nations鈥� emergency relief coordinator urged Israel on Thursday to lift its blockade of aid into the Gaza Strip, saying the amounts to 鈥渃ruel collective punishment.鈥�
The U.N. said thousands of Palestinians had breached a humanitarian field office in Gaza late Wednesday looking for aid. They took medicine and damaged vehicles in the melee but caused no injuries to staff.
Israel has blocked any humanitarian aid from entering the territory since in March, throwing Gaza into what is believed to be the worst humanitarian crisis in nearly 19 months of war. Israel has said the blockade and its renewed military campaign are intended to pressure Hamas to release the remaining hostages it still holds and to disarm.
began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Hamas is still holding 59 hostages, 24 of whom are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
As Israel continued its strikes on the Palestinian enclave, another 18 people were killed and dozens more were wounded, Gaza鈥檚 Health Ministry said.
UN aid group reports looting in Gaza amid deprivation
A United Nations aid group said its staff were safely evacuated after thousands of Palestinians breached its Gaza field office Wednesday evening and took medications. An official with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, called the looting 鈥渢he direct result of unbearable and prolonged deprivation.鈥�
鈦犫�漈he looting, while devastating, is not surprising in the face of total systemic collapse. We are witnessing the consequences of a society brought to its knees by prolonged siege and violence,鈥� said Louise Wateridge, a senior emergency officer at the agency.
The breach, which took place at an UNWRA training center and field office, also caused damage to agency trucks and buses, she said. No injuries were reported among the staff.
Israel鈥檚 war against Hamas has killed more than , according to the territory鈥檚 Health Ministry, including more than 2,200 in the six weeks since Israel shattered the ceasefire on March 18. Some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed in Israel by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attacks which started the war.
UN says 3,000 aid trucks backed up outside Gaza
The United Nations says that more than 3,000 aid trucks with lifesaving supplies are backed up at the border outside Gaza. UNRWA said Thursday that the Israeli blockade means their trucks can't reach the 1 million children whose lives are in danger without them.
The agency also said that about 660,000 Palestinian children are out of school because of the ongoing war. UNRWA said in an X post that 鈥渢he crossings must reopen, and the siege must be lifted.鈥�
Israel has been striking homes, shelters and public areas daily since ending a ceasefire in March. It also has cut off the territory鈥檚 2 million Palestinians from all imports, , for nearly two months.
U.N. food stockpiles have run out and aid groups say thousands of Palestinian children are malnourished. Israel says its blockade aims to pressure Hamas . However, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights warned this week that starving civilians as a military tactic constitutes a war crime.
UN calls for lifting of blockade
Tom Fletcher, the U.N. under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, said Thursday that while the hostages should be released and should never have been taken in the first place, international law mandates that Israel allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.
鈥淎id, and the civilian lives it saves, should never be a bargaining chip,鈥� he said in a statement. 鈥淏locking aid starves civilians. It leaves them without basic medical support. It strips them of dignity and hope. It inflicts a cruel collective punishment. Blocking aid kills.鈥�
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, has described severe shortages of food, water and medicine in Gaza as medical services collapse and charity kitchens shut down because of a lack of supplies. Hospitals have reported that cases of malnourished pregnant and breastfeeding women are rising sharply, and most newborns are now being born underweight.
Fletcher stressed that 鈥渢he humanitarian movement is independent, impartial and neutral. We believe that all civilians are equally worthy of protection.鈥�
He said that a recent proposal by Israeli authorities regarding ways to distribute aid 鈥渄oes not meet the minimum bar for principled humanitarian support.鈥� Israel has proposed taking over aid distribution in Gaza or using private companies for the distribution.
The United Kingdom joined calls for aid to be allowed into Gaza.
鈥淭he healthcare system in Gaza is near collapse,鈥� the U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office posted on X. 鈥淎id supplies must be allowed in, medical workers protected, and the sick and wounded allowed to temporarily leave Gaza for treatment.鈥�
Israeli strikes continue
Israeli strikes in Gaza killed more than two dozen people from Wednesday afternoon into Thursday, bringing the overall death toll since the war started to more than 52,400 people, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza. More than 2,300 of the deaths have occurred since the ceasefire collapsed on March 18, it said.
The ministry doesn't differentiate between civilians and militant deaths, but says more than half the dead have been women and children. Israel says it has killed more than 20,000 militants, without providing details on those deaths.
On Thursday afternoon, the ministry said the bodies of 18 people and 77 wounded people had arrived at hospitals in the past 24 hours.
The bodies of another eight people 鈥� including three children and three women 鈥� arrived at Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis, the hospital said later Thursday. ___
Shurafa reported from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip.
Elena Becatoros And Wafaa Shurafa, The Associated Press
