The main United Nations agency in Gaza warned Sunday there are signs “civil order is starting to break down” after “thousands” of people broke into its warehouses and distribution centers in central and southern parts of the enclave, “taking wheat, flour and other basic survival items.”
One of the warehouses in the city of Deir al Balah, in central Gaza, stores supplies from humanitarian convoys coming from Egypt, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said in a statement.
“This is a worrying sign that civil order is starting to break down after three weeks of war and a tight siege on Gaza. People are scared, frustrated and desperate,” said Thomas White, director of UNRWA affairs in the Gaza Strip.
White said mass displacement of people from northern Gaza to the south was putting huge pressure on communities and already crumbling public services. “The needs of the communities are immense, if only for basic survival, while the aid we receive is meager and inconsistent,” he said.
This pressure may ramp up as the Israeli military said Sunday it was “increasing the urgency” of its calls for people in northern Gaza to flee south, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had launched the “second stage” of its war against Hamas.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari gave the warning in a video posted Sunday morning. The United Nations (UN) and humanitarian groups have criticized calls to move southwards, pointing to the challenges of moving within Gaza while it is under attack.
It’s also unclear how widely Gazans received the call as communications severed across much of the territory since Friday night were only partially restored as of Sunday morning.
Source: cnn.com
