UN halts aid shipments through Gaza’s main crossing after looting. It blames the crisis on Israel

By WAFAA SHURAFA, SAMY MAGDY and TIA GOLDENBERG

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.

Kerem Shalom is the only crossing between Israel and Gaza that is designed for cargo shipments and has been the main artery for aid since the Rafah crossing with Egypt was shut in May. Last month, nearly two-thirds of aid entering Gaza came through Kerem Shalom, and in previous months it accounted for even more, according to Israeli figures.

In an X post, Lazzarini largely blamed Israel for the breakdown of humanitarian operations in Gaza, citing “political decisions to restrict the amounts of aid,” lack of safety on routes and Israel’s targeting of the Hamas-run police force, which previously provided public security.

“Yesterday we had assurances aid would be fine. We tried to move five trucks and they were all taken,” Scott Anderson, director of UNRWA affairs in Gaza, told The Associated Press. “So we’ve kind of reached a point where it makes no sense to continue to try to move aid if it’s just gonna be looted.” When asked whether UNRWA has seen evidence supporting Israeli claims that Hamas has been behind aid looting, he emphasized that there’s no systemic diversion of aid in Gaza.

A spokesman for UNICEF, Ammar Ammar, confirmed the security situation was “unacceptable” and said it was evaluating its operations at the crossing.

The Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid to Gaza said on X that it will continue to work with the international community to increase aid into Gaza through Kerem Shalom and other crossings, and said UNRWA coordinated less than 10% of the aid that entered Gaza in November.

The Israeli military accuses UNRWA of having allowed Hamas to infiltrate its ranks — allegations the agency denies — and passed legislation to sever ties with it last month.