UN halts aid shipments through Gaza's main crossing after looting. It blames the crisis on Israel
The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees says it is halting aid deliveries through the main cargo crossing into Gaza because of the threat of armed gangs who have looted recent convoys
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said Sunday it is halting aid deliveries through the main cargo crossing into the war-ravaged Gaza Strip because of the threat of armed gangs who have looted convoys. It blamed the breakdown of law and order in large part on Israeli policies.
In Israel, a former defense minister and fierce critic of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — and a hard-liner on the Palestinians — accused the government of ethnic cleansing in northern Gaza, where a military offensive continues.
The U.N. agency's decision could worsen Gaza's humanitarian crisis as a second cold, rainy winter sets in, with hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in squalid tent camps and reliant on international aid. Experts already warned of famine in the north, which Israeli forces have almost completely isolated since early October.
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, the main aid provider in Gaza, said the route leading to the Kerem Shalom crossing is too dangerous on the Gaza side. Armed men looted nearly 100 trucks on the route in mid-November.
