Food aid in Gaza battles desperate crowds

Food aid in Gaza battles desperate crowds

After Al Haj Bakery's last bread distribution on Thursday, Jihad Al Shafie was still waiting, with no hope of bringing his family anything to eat. Like many others in the crowd in front of the bakery Gaza Al Shafie stood there early in the morning, expecting to receive fresh pita bread from the first shipment of flour to reach the enclosed region since early March. Unfortunately, he had nothing left, as many of the promised trucks with food were still stuck in southern Gaza, a few dozen kilometers away.

The desperate situation of the people

"We see people waiting for bread, but no one receives anything," Al Shafie told CNN. “It is crucial that those responsible understand our suffering and act accordingly.” On Thursday afternoon, the bakery experienced "unprecedented attacks," the owner reported, as a crowd descended on the establishment in a race for food. Through the small window that separates the workers from the crowd, desperate hands reached for the few bags of bread. There was chaos and everything quickly disappeared, leaving many empty-handed.

The call to action

Ina'am Al Burdeini had walked an hour from Al-Maghazi refugee camp to the bakery, only to find a crowd already overflowing. She also left without bread. "It is exhausting and we feel lost and abandoned," Al Burdeini said, directing her anger both internally and externally at Gaza. "The people are desperate. It's time for action, not empty promises. Hamas, go away!"

Humanitarian aid reaches Gaza

This week started Israel to allow the first trucks carrying food and humanitarian supplies to enter Gaza after it imposed a complete blockade of humanitarian supplies since March 2. More than 300 trucks carrying aid have arrived in Gaza since Monday, according to the Israeli government's Coordinator for Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which is monitoring deliveries.

Inadequate support and security issues

This is just a fraction of the aid that arrived in Gaza before the war, when 500 to 600 trucks a day supplied the region, according to the United Nations. On Thursday, COGAT declared "that there is no food shortage in Gaza," although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said this week that Israel is allowing "a basic amount of food" into Gaza to prevent a humanitarian crisis.

Criticism of the security conditions

“The aid that is arriving now is like a needle in a haystack,” Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN Rescue and Work Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), said on social media. “A significant and uninterrupted flow of aid is the only way to prevent the current disaster from escalating further.” In addition, not all aid reached the Palestinian population, as some were held up due to unsafe transit routes or were looted on the way to distribution points. No trucks reached northern Gaza, where Israel has recently issued several evacuation warnings.

Looting and armed conflict

Late Thursday night, 30 aid trucks were attacked and vandalized in southern and central Gaza, said Nahid Shuheiber, the head of the area's transport association. In Deir Al-Balah, armed gangs opened fire on the trucks and looted them. As local security forces, backed by Hamas, arrived to secure the convoy, Hamas' media office announced that multiple Israeli strikes targeted the site, killing six people. CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment.

"Hunger, desperation and fear over whether more food aid will arrive are contributing to increasing insecurity," the World Food Program (WFP) said in a statement on Friday. “We need the support of the Israeli authorities to bring much larger quantities of food to Gaza more quickly, more consistently and through safer routes, as was possible during the ceasefire.”

Call for international intervention

The Palestinian NGO Network condemned the looting of humanitarian aid vehicles. "The trucks loaded with flour and destined to supply bakeries in Gaza City and northern governorates have been looted - depriving children and families already suffering from severe hunger of basic necessities," the umbrella organization said.

A joint U.S.-Israel aid program, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, is expected to have four distribution sites operational before the end of the month. But the UN and other humanitarian organizations have refused to work with the new group. The new plan has drawn criticism from humanitarian leaders, who warn that it is inadequate and could endanger civilians.

UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said last week that no time should be wasted on an alternative aid distribution plan, writing in a post: "To those proposing an alternative distribution method: Let's not waste time - we already have a plan."

On Friday, the Bakers' Association in Gaza announced that bakeries would stop working "given the difficult circumstances in the Gaza Strip" and called on the WFP to distribute flour to families first. Abdel Nasser Al-Ajrami, the association's chairman, called on international organizations to urgently intervene and ask Israel to let in "flour, sugar, yeast, salt and diesel" so that bread is available to all.

CNN's Oren Lieberman and Dana Karni contributed to this report.