Gaza: A sharp increase in looting across northern Gaza has been reported by witnesses and humanitarian aid groups, as starvation tightens its grip on the region due to Israel’s continued blockade.
Since Wednesday, both armed and unarmed individuals have stormed supply warehouses, bakeries, and community kitchens in a desperate search for food and medical resources. The looting, described as more violent and widespread than before, marks a turning point in the enclave’s humanitarian crisis, which began worsening after the Israeli government ended a ceasefire with Hamas in March.
The events unfolded primarily in Gaza City, with chaos erupting after rumors spread that trucks carrying aid had arrived from the south. Armed men broke into a bakery and later ransacked a soup kitchen in the al-Shati refugee camp.
That same night, UNRWA’s field office was breached, forcing the withdrawal of its staff while looters took whatever medical supplies remained. Over the next two days, looting intensified, overwhelming local police and guards at two UN warehouses that were already nearly empty.
Residents like Ahmed Abu Awad reported the presence of organized gangs, while Yahya Youssef described ongoing armed clashes between looters and security forces. UNRWA’s senior emergency official, Louise Wateridge, called the looting a direct outcome of “unbearable and prolonged deprivation.” Aid workers fear a total breakdown of order as hunger spreads, with famine now imminent, according to humanitarian agencies.
Meanwhile, in Khan Younis, Israeli airstrikes killed at least 17 Palestinians overnight, including 11 members of one family—three women and three children among them. Hospital records confirm the deaths, with strikes targeting refugee camps and residential homes.
This humanitarian catastrophe unfolds as Israel maintains that the blockade and military actions aim to pressure Hamas into releasing the remaining 59 hostages, 24 of whom are presumed dead. However, international law and the UN have repeatedly warned that using starvation as a method of warfare may constitute a war crime. The situation in Gaza now teeters on the edge of societal collapse, driven by an acute lack of food, medicine, and safety.
