Thousands Plunder UN Aid Depots In Gaza As Israel Broadens Military Operation
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
JERUSALEM/GAZA (Worthy News) – Thousands have broken into aid depots in a “worrying sign of civil order starting to break down” in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, the United Nations relief agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) says.
People reportedly took flour and other essential supplies after storming several warehouses and distribution centers in the center and south of the territory on Saturday.
It came while phone lines and internet connections were slowly returning after more than a day of almost total communications blackout, journalists said.
Connectivity was cut as Israel intensified its bombardment of Gaza and began an extensive ground operation involving tanks and troops.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) say warplanes have attacked “over 450 military targets belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip” over the last day. Troops have also entered the territory as part of a broader military operation, the IDF confirmed.
Israel has been bombing Gaza since the October 7 Hamas attacks that killed 1,400 people in Israel, including Holocaust survivors and children, and saw 229 people kidnapped as hostages.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says “more than 8,000 people” have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory bombing, though those figures have been complex to verify independently.
Doctors and the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza suggested that the death toll could rise as Israel has told them to evacuate a critical hospital in Gaza City ahead of expected Israeli strikes.
Four hundred patients are being treated inside Al-Quds Hospital, and moving them is impossible, the organization said.
Around 14,000 civilians are reportedly sheltering in the hospital and its grounds. Israel has said that Hamas uses sites such as hospitals to hide weapons and fighters.
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