Israel Faces Criticism as Emergency Aid Trucks Looted in Gaza

Emergency aid is slowly being let into besieged Gaza. On Thursday, 107 humanitarian trucks drove into Gaza, Israel reports. But shortly thereafter, several of them are said to have been looted.

» Published: May 23 2025 at 10:26

Israel Faces Criticism as Emergency Aid Trucks Looted in Gaza
Photo: Abdel Kareem Hana

The trucks drove in on Thursday via the Kerem Shalom border crossing "after a rigorous security check", Israel's military announced on Friday.

On board were food, flour, medicine and medical equipment, writes the newspaper Haaretz. It is unclear how much of it has so far reached those in need.

On Friday, the UN's food program (WFP) reports that 15 of the trucks were plundered on their way to bakeries in southern Gaza during the night.

"Hunger and desperation"

WFP criticizes the system with a very limited number of bakeries and places where Gaza's population can access food.

"These trucks transported critical supplies to starving people who anxiously await help. Hunger, desperation, and uncertainty about whether more food will come contribute to increased uncertainty", they write in a statement, according to Haaretz.

WFP demands that Israeli authorities enable a significantly larger and more consistent influx of emergency aid to the Gaza Strip, as well as that the deliveries are transported via safer routes.

"A drop in the ocean"

Israel resumed emergency aid deliveries to Gaza on Monday, after a nearly three-month-long blockade that has led the UN and international organizations to sound the alarm about an impending mass famine in Gaza.

The trucks that have so far been allowed in are, according to the UN, "a drop in the ocean".

We can compare with the activity we had when the borders were open, when there was a ceasefire not so long ago. During that period, we could take in between 500 and up to 800 truckloads every day. That is the quantity we need, said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN's coordination organization for humanitarian aid (Ocha), to TT.

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By TTTranslated and adapted by Sweden Herald
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