Gaza is descending into anarchy as supplies in the besieged city run dangerously low, authorities warned last night.
Gangs of desperate Palestinians broke into UN warehouses and took flour and basic supplies, raising fears that civil order was on the brink of collapse.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) warned that the looting is a sign of growing fear and desperation in Gaza, where food and water supplies are dangerously low.
It came as the restoration of telephone and internet connections allowed residents to describe their 36 hours of horror under the brutal bombardment.
Palestinians storm a UN-run aid delivery center. Experts warned that the looting was a sign of growing fear and desperation in Gaza, where food and water supplies are dangerously low.
Palestinians collect bags of dried legumes at a UN-run aid facility and distribute food to local Palestinians and people displaced by Israel’s call for more than 1 million residents in northern Gaza to move south for their safety
The Washington Post reported that Israel deliberately cut communications in Gaza ahead of the latest wave of bombings and ground attacks
More than 8,000 people have been killed in Gaza in the past three weeks, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry.
The death toll includes 3,324 children. Save The Children said this figure was higher than the total number of children killed in conflict zones around the world since 2019.
As the stranglehold on fuel and supplies continued, the charity said its surgeons were limited to performing operations without anesthesia and by mobile phone light.
Palestinian photojournalist Belal Khaled shared a photo of a small white shroud covering the body of a one-day-old baby reportedly killed in the bombing.
On the shroud was written: ‘Uday Aby Mohsen, he is one day old. He didn’t get a birth certificate, but he did get a death certificate.’
For some, the first calls and messages brought reassurance and relief, but for others the restoration of communication brought only devastation.
One woman, Noor Ashour, wrote that every message she received was about the death of a friend or neighbor, adding, “If only the internet stayed shut down.”
Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran said it was “torturous” not knowing if her family in Gaza was safe.
She said she had finally received word that they were alive, but told the BBC: ‘There has been bombing in the south, there has been bombing on the so-called safe route that they had been given to get to the south. Nowhere in Gaza is safe.
“The conversation in Gaza has now changed. People no longer say, ‘Where do we have to go to be safe?’ The question they are asking now is: ‘Where do we want to be when we die?’
The Washington Post reported that Israel deliberately cut communications in Gaza ahead of the latest wave of bombings and ground attacks.
It stated that the US insisted that cell phone and internet services had to be restored, and that Gaza could not be cut off from the world.
President Joe Biden, one of Israel’s fiercest international supporters, also urged Israel to “immediately and significantly increase” aid to Gaza.
In a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he said the country must conduct its campaign “in a manner consistent with international humanitarian law that prioritises the protection of civilians.”
Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron have also pledged to work together to get aid to Gaza, the British prime minister’s spokesman said.
Thomas White, director of UNRWA in Gaza, said the looting of warehouses was a sign of the desperation and frustration in the area.
Smoke rises in Gaza, visible from the town of Sderot as Israeli airstrikes continue in Sderot, Israel
The International Criminal Court said it was “actively investigating” alleged war crimes committed in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank. Pictured: Israeli airstrike in Gaza, Palestine
Thousands broke into aid depots in Deir al Balah, where convoys from Egypt have been bringing aid to Gaza.
Mr White said: ‘This is a worrying sign that civil order is beginning to collapse after three weeks of war and a heavy siege on Gaza.
‘People are scared, frustrated and desperate. Tensions and fears are exacerbated by cuts to telephone and internet communications lines. They feel like they are alone, cut off from their family and the rest of the world.’
Mr Biden spoke to Mr Netanyahu and stressed the need to increase aid to Gaza and protect the lives of civilians.
Israel said it would allow increased flows of aid through Egypt’s Rafah crossing in the coming days.
It said the supplies would be distributed in “humanitarian safe zones” around Khan Yunis in southern Gaza.
The International Criminal Court said “active investigations are ongoing” into alleged war crimes committed in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.
Prosecutor Karim Khan said the ICC was closely monitoring the brutal raids in Israel on October 7 that sparked the current crisis, as well as the situation in Palestine.
He said neither side should prevent aid from reaching civilians, adding: “They are innocent. They have rights under international humanitarian law.”