The United Nations says that 23 trucks were “lost to looting” on Sunday, after the Israel Defense Forces overhauled its efforts to secure humanitarian aid delivery routes in Gaza and, reportedly, saw some short-term success.
The World Food Programme, a U.N. agency, stated that a U.N. convoy carrying both food and non-food items departed from the Kerem Shalom crossing via the Philadelphi Corridor, bound for central Gaza. While the convoy was in transit, “an airstrike occurred,” according to the global body.
The circumstances of that strike remain unclear. After the strike, 35 trucks arrived at their warehouse destination without further incident.
The United Nations claims that the Israeli military delayed the second half of the convoy, and when news of its position spread, it was looted by unidentified bandits.
“WFP has consistently called on all parties to ensure the safe passage of aid, as have we,” Stephanie Tremblay, associate spokeswoman for António Guterres, the U.N. secretary-general, told reporters on Monday.
“It has also engaged with communities and families residing along the convoy route to secure their cooperation,” she said.
Looting by armed gangs, many reportedly with terror ties, has been on the rise and has created a major obstacle to aid delivery and safety.
The United Nations claims Israel is responsible, according to international law, for securing goods and humanitarian workers. At the same time, it refuses to allow Israel to accompany the convoys, citing the need to keep warring parties out of the mix.
The global body has not explained how the IDF can guarantee the security of routes upon which it is not permitted to accompany convoys.
The Israeli military said that it boosted security along the Philadelphi Corridor and Gaza-Israel border road through a recently introduced arrangement, in which the IDF directs aid convoys on the first stage of their journey. It also developed alternate delivery routes in Gaza.
The IDF told JNS that the new system worked well over a 10-day stretch following its introduction, with some 400 aid trucks in convoys of 100 each successfully navigating the routes.
Tremblay told reporters that the World Food Programme was using one of those new routes on Sunday, which had recently been approved as an alternative to the main Salah El-Din route.
Tremblay said that Sunday marked the U.N. agency’s fifth time on that route.
JNS asked Tremblay if she can confirm the IDF’s claim that looting has gone down overall after it introduced new measures. (The United Nations rarely acknowledges successful humanitarian steps that Israel takes.)
“I would not be able to provide you with a full overview of whether this had gone down for the entire Gaza Strip,” she told JNS.