Source : NEW INDIAN EXPRESS NEWS
The ransacking in Gaza City began Wednesday evening after reports that aid trucks had entered the north from the south, said one aid worker who was not authorized to speak to the media. A security report circulated among aid agencies that night, saying a group of armed people forcefully broke into a bakery driven by rumors of stored food supplies.
The storage was empty and the group moved to a soup kitchen affiliated with an international aid group in the Al-Shati camp and looted it, said the report.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency said its staff were safely evacuated after thousands of Palestinians breached its Gaza City field office Wednesday evening and took medications. Louise Wateridge, a senior emergency officer at UNRWA, called the looting “the direct result of unbearable and prolonged deprivation.”
The ransacking continued through Friday night. Three witnesses told the AP that dozens of armed men stormed into at least two U.N. warehouses, pushing past police and local security guards protecting the facilities.
“There were organized gangs,” said Ahmed Abu Awad, a resident of western Gaza City, where some of the looting took place.
Yahya Youssef, another witness, said he saw dozens of armed men on the streets in western Gaza City, in gunfights for two consecutive nights, with policemen and security forces that protect U.N. and aid groups’ facilities.
Both men said Israeli drones and aircraft were flying over the area while looting was underway.
An Israeli strike Friday night killed three people, including two tasked with guarding the area in western Gaza City and a child, said a statement from the interior ministry.
The Gaza Interior Ministry said Saturday it killed six suspects and wounded 13 others with gunshots to the legs in the past two days over looting activities. The ministry also enforced a nighttime curfew starting Friday in some of Gaza City’s main streets.
The al-Najjar family, one of Gaza City’s most prominent, condemned the pillaging in a statement and called for respect and the protection of public and private property. “We categorically reject the chaos that harms the interests of the nation and its citizens.”
Israeli strikes on Gaza continued overnight Friday, leaving at least 17 people dead, including children, in the southern City of Khan Younis, according to hospital records.
Among the dead were 11 people from the same family, according to Nasser Hospital which received the bodies. Another strike killed two newly married couples, said one of their families.
SOURCE :- NEW INDIAN EXPRESS
