Deadly break in at UN warehouse as aid trickles into Gaza

A United Nations warehouse in Gaza was broken into on Wednesday as aid trickles into the Palestinian enclave on the brink of famine and the US readies new terms for a possible truce between Israel and Hamas.

The World Food Programme said initial reports were that two people had died and several more were injured at the central Gaza warehouse. The UN agency appealed for an immediate scale-up of food aid "to reassure people that they will not starve".

Eyewitness video independently verified by Reuters shows large crowds of people pushing into the warehouse and removing bags and boxes as gunfire can be heard. It was not immediately clear how the people may have been killed or injured in the incident.

Under growing international pressure, Israel ended an 11-week long aid blockade on Gaza 10 days ago. It has allowed a limited amount of relief to be delivered via two avenues - the United Nations or the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

UN Middle East envoy Sigrid Kaag told the Security Council that the amount of aid Israel had so far allowed the UN to deliver was "comparable to a lifeboat after the ship has sunk" when everyone in Gaza was facing the risk of famine.

The United States has been trying to broker a ceasefire. Israel - which resumed its military operation in Gaza in March after a brief truce - continued strikes on Wednesday, killing at least 30 people, Palestinian health officials said. 

"We are on the precipice of sending out a new term sheet that hopefully will be delivered later on today," US President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said on Wednesday. "The president is going to review it."

The war in Gaza was triggered on October 7, 2023, when Hamas killed 1,200 people in southern Israel and took some 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, Israel's military campaign has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.

UN VS GHF

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Israel's killing of Hamas Gaza chief Mohammad Sinwar marked a turn towards the "complete defeat of Hamas", adding that Israel was "taking control of food distribution" in Gaza.

Israel has accused Hamas of diverting and seizing aid supplies. Hamas has denied stealing aid.

Israel ultimately wants the UN to work through the GHF, which is using private US security and logistics companies to transport aid into Gaza for distribution by civilian teams at so-called secure distribution sites.

The UN and other international aid groups have refused to work with the GHF because they say the plan is not neutral.

"This new scheme is surveillance-based rationing that legitimises a policy of deprivation by design," senior UN aid official for the occupied Palestinian territories, Jonathan Whittall, told reporters in Jerusalem on Wednesday.

WARNING SHOTS

The Israeli military on Tuesday said it fired warning shots in the area outside a GHF distribution site, which was briefly rushed by people waiting for aid. Footage shared on social media showed fences broken down by crowds as private security contractors fell back before restoring order.

The United Nations human rights office said on Wednesday that 47 people had been injured on Tuesday while seeking aid from the GHF, citing information from partners on the ground. It could not give a specific location of where people were injured. The GHF said no one was injured at the distribution site.

The foundation said aid distribution continued on Wednesday without incident as it opened a second distribution hub. Across the two sites it has so far given out the equivalent of 840,262 meals. The GHF said it is working to open four sites and expand further in Gaza in the weeks ahead.

The UN said that since aid deliveries resumed last week Israel had approved about 800 truckloads of relief.

But UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that fewer than 500 truckloads had made it to the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing, "where we and our partners could collect just over 200 of them – limited by insecurity and restricted access".

Israel is under pressure over Gaza's dire humanitarian situation. France, Britain, Canada and Germany have said they may take action if the military campaign is not halted. Italy on Wednesday said the offensive had become unacceptable.