Gaza aid Officials recall gangs looting flour trucks

Aid officials and witnesses have described the chaotic and violent moments when a convoy carrying enough flour to bake bread for two-thirds of the population of Gaza for a week was looted earlier this month.

- Jason Burke

The officials made clear the attack was undertaken by groups of criminals, not civilians who were now being deprived of food in a territory close to famine.

The attack on 17 November was the most serious after months of escalating violence directed at aid convoys in Gaza, where experts have warned of imminent famine. The UN now estimates a third or more of UN aid entering Gaza is looted.

"It is organised crime on a massive scale. They are taking supplies paid for by member states. It is another horrendous consequence of the war and it is an utter disgrace that things have been allowed to get this bad," said one official.

Aid officials said the attack on the convoy had serious consequences. "Pick-up of supplies and fuel has stopped completely. For fuel it is a mess, as it means we are more or less grounded until the situation is fixed," one told the Guardian on Wednesday.