Crowds in Khan Younis raided some 110 World Food Program trucks carrying flour on Saturday, a day before it was to be distributed to civilians in the Strip.
"The catastrophic situation in Gaza is the worst since the war began," U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in New York on Friday. "Any aid that gets into the hands of people who need it is good," he said, adding that the aid deliveries so far have had "very, very little impact."
Gazans loot the humanitarian aid from WFP trucks
The U.N. and international aid groups have refused to work with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) an American foundation distributing food to the civilian population in dedicated distribution areas set up by Israel, claiming that it is not neutral and has a distribution model that forces the displacement of Palestinians.
Israel ultimately wants the U.N. to work through the GHF, which is using private U.S. security and logistics companies to transport aid into Gaza.
The U.N. says that in the past 12 days, it has only managed to transport some 200 truckloads of aid into the Strip, hindered by insecurity and Israeli access restrictions. It was not immediately clear how much of that aid reached those in need. It said some trucks and a World Food Program warehouse have also been looted by desperate, hungry people.
U.N. officials have also criticized Israeli limitations on what kind of aid they can provide.
"Israeli authorities have not allowed us to bring in a single ready-to-eat meal. The only food permitted has been flour for bakeries. Even if allowed in unlimited quantities, which it hasn't been, it wouldn't amount to a complete diet for anyone," said Eri Kaneko, U.N. humanitarian affairs spokesperson.
Some of the recipients of GHF aid said the packages include some rice, flour, canned beans, pasta, olive oil, biscuits and sugar.
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"More aid would actually get to the people if you would collect the aid waiting for you by the crossings," COGAT, the Israeli military aid coordination agency, said to the U.N. in a posting on X on Friday.
However, the U.N. said that on Tuesday the Israeli military denied all its requests to access Kerem Shalom to pick up the aid. And on Thursday, when 65 trucks of aid managed to leave the crossing, all but five turned back due to intense fighting.
Five trucks of medical aid managed to reach the warehouses of a field hospital, but "a group of armed individuals stormed the warehouses... looting large quantities of medical equipment, supplies, medicines and nutritional supplements that was intended for malnourished children," Dujarric said.