Armed males hijacked dozens of aid vehicles coming into the Gaza Strip in a single day, and lots of of determined Palestinians joined in to take supplies, native aid teams mentioned on Saturday (May 31, 2025) as officers waited for Hamas to answer the newest ceasefire proposals.
The incident was the newest in a sequence that has underscored the shaky safety state of affairs hampering the supply of aid into Gaza, following the easing of a weeks-long Israeli blockade earlier this month.
U.S. President Donald Trump mentioned on Friday he believed a ceasefire settlement was shut however Hamas has mentioned it’s nonetheless learning the newest proposals from his particular Middle East [West Asia] envoy Steve Witkoff. The White House mentioned on Thursday that Israel had agreed to the proposals.
The proposals would see a 60-day truce and the trade of 28 of the 58 hostages nonetheless held in Gaza for greater than 1,200 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, together with the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave.
On Saturday, the Israeli army, which relaunched its air and floor marketing campaign in March following a two-month truce, mentioned it was persevering with to hit targets in Gaza, together with sniper posts and had killed what it mentioned was the pinnacle of a Hamas weapons manufacturing website.
The marketing campaign has cleared massive areas alongside the boundaries of the Gaza Strip, squeezing the inhabitants of greater than 2 million into an ever narrower part alongside the coast and across the southern metropolis of Khan Younis.
Israel imposed a blockade on all supplies coming into the enclave at the start of March in an effort to weaken Hamas and has discovered itself below growing strain from a global neighborhood shocked by the more and more determined humanitarian state of affairs the blockade has created.
The United Nations mentioned on Friday the state of affairs in Gaza is the worst for the reason that begin of the warfare started 19 months in the past, with your complete inhabitants going through the danger of famine regardless of a resumption of restricted aid deliveries earlier this month.
Israel has been permitting a restricted variety of vehicles from the World Food Programme and different worldwide teams to convey flour to bakeries in Gaza however deliveries have been hampered by repeated incidents of looting.
At the identical time, a separate system, run by a U.S.-backed group referred to as the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has been delivering meals and meals packages at three designated distribution websites.
However, aid teams have refused to cooperate with the GHF, which they are saying just isn’t impartial, and say the quantity of aid allowed in falls far wanting the wants of a inhabitants prone to famine.
“The aid that’s being sent now makes a mockery of the mass tragedy unfolding under our watch,” Philippe Lazzarini, head of the primary U.N. reduction group for Palestinians, mentioned in a message on the social media platform X.
NO BREAD IN WEEKS
The World Food Programme mentioned it introduced 77 vehicles carrying flour into Gaza in a single day and early on Saturday and all of them had been stopped on the best way, with meals taken by hungry folks.
“After nearly 80 days of a total blockade, communities are starving and they are no longer willing to watch food pass them by,” it mentioned in a press release.
Amjad Al-Shawa, head of an umbrella group representing Palestinian aid teams, mentioned the dire state of affairs was being exploited by armed teams which had been attacking a few of the aid convoys.
He mentioned lots of extra vehicles had been wanted and accused Israel of a “systematic policy of starvation”.
Overnight on Saturday, he mentioned vehicles had been stopped by armed teams close to Khan Younis as they had been headed in the direction of a World Food Programme warehouse in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza and lots of of determined folks had carried off supplies.
“We could understand that some are driven by hunger and starvation, some may not have eaten bread in several weeks, but we can’t understand armed looting, and it is not acceptable at all,” he mentioned.
Israel says it’s facilitating aid deliveries, pointing to its endorsement of the brand new GHF distribution centres and its consent for different aid vehicles to enter Gaza.
Instead it accuses Hamas of stealing supplies meant for civilians and utilizing them to entrench its maintain on Gaza, which it had been operating since 2007.
The Palestinian militant group denies looting supplies and has executed a lot of suspected looters. U.N. officers say they’ve seen no proof that the group has been stealing supplies for the reason that newest deliveries started to reach.
Israel started its marketing campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led assault on communities in southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 folks, based on Israeli tallies, and noticed 251 taken as hostages into Gaza.
The marketing campaign has laid waste massive areas of the Gaza Strip, killing greater than 54,000 Palestinians and destroying or damaging most of its buildings, leaving many of the inhabitants in makeshift shelters. (Writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
Published – May 31, 2025 09:32 pm IST
