The World Food Programme (WFP) has warned of severe threats to its humanitarian operation in Gaza after hundreds of desperate civilians broke into one of its warehouses in Deir Al-Balah on Wednesday. The incident occurred amid a near-total blockade on food entry by Israel and coincided with deadly violence around US-backed aid centers in Rafah.
Later that evening, violence erupted around the warehouse on Salah Al-Din Street, where at least four people were killed and more than twenty were injured. According to local reports, the clashes escalated after some people used firearms and sharp weapons to seize stored flour and nutritional supplements.
One eyewitness, who asked to remain unnamed, told Al Manassa that “the warehouse had a large amount of flour and canned goods. But armed gangs broke in to seize the supplies and resell them at extortionate prices.”
Another local resident said he paid 300 shekels ($85) for a single 25-kilogram sack of flour. “It’s multiple times what it used to cost,” he said. “But there’s no other way to get it now.”
In a statement received by Al Manassa, the WFP said Israeli authorities had blocked direct food deliveries since May 19. “We have worked tirelessly to obtain a permit to resume direct distribution to families, as we believe this is the safest and most effective way to support them,” the agency stated.
Following Israeli approval, WFP announced on Wednesday that it plans to resume flour distribution in the coming days—including in northern governorates—and called on Palestinians to support safe aid delivery. “Looting and assaults on food convoys threaten the very assistance people desperately need,” the agency warned.
Footage published by AFP and cited by the BBC showed people rushing into the WFP’s Al-Ghafari warehouse in Deir Al-Balah and seizing sacks of flour amid gunfire. While WFP reported two deaths, Al Manassa sources inside Gaza reported at least four fatalities and more than 20 injuries.
“We lost everything”
While WFP prepares to resume distribution, a parallel effort led by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) faced deadly chaos on Tuesday, its second operational day.
According to the Gaza Government Media Office, Israeli soldiers opened fire on civilians near GHF aid sites in Rafah, killing 10 and injuring 62. The office labeled the centers “death traps,” accusing the foundation of colluding with Israel in an “engineered hunger project” and holding both parties legally and ethically responsible for a “civilian massacre.”
GHF denied the allegations in a statement seen by Al Manassa. “No beneficiary was harmed, no lives were lost, and all food parcels were distributed without interference,” the foundation stated. “Our team temporarily eased security measures to prevent stampedes.”
Distributions were carried out at two main locations: the Morag junction between Rafah and Khan Younis and near the Al-Alam roundabout in western Rafah, where severe overcrowding had occurred the day before.
Murtada Thabet, a displaced father of seven from eastern Rafah, spoke to Al Manassa near the Khan Younis distribution site. “I came after hearing neighbors received food parcels, but I couldn’t get any. Some people took more than one box. I asked for help, and some gave me lentils, flour, sugar, and rice—not a full package, but enough to ease hunger.”
Thabet said he lost both his house and source of income after Israel resumed military operations. “We lost the house and work. I have children who need to eat. I can’t buy food—prices are too high. Whenever I hear of food distribution, I go immediately,” he said.
UN warns of collapse amid “engineered scarcity”
The UN and multiple humanitarian officials have raised concerns about GHF’s operations. The UN Human Rights Office said 47 people were injured Monday when crowds overwhelmed a GHF site in Rafah.
UN Middle East envoy Sigrid Kaag described the amount of aid Israel allowed into Gaza last week as “comparable to a lifeboat after the ship has sunk.”
Jonathan Whittall, the UN’s humanitarian lead for the occupied Palestinian territories, said criminal gangs—not Hamas—were responsible for looting aid trucks. “The real theft of aid since the beginning of the war has been carried out by criminal gangs, under the watch of Israeli forces, and they were allowed to operate in proximity to the Kerem Shalom crossing point into Gaza,” he told journalists on Wednesday.
WFP warned that without strong community coordination, even resumed aid would be at risk. “WFP is doing everything in its power to resume support and restore safe food distribution,” the agency’s statement read. “But we cannot succeed without community cooperation.”
The humanitarian crisis has deepened since March 18, when Israel resumed its military offensive in Gaza, ending a ceasefire agreement that had gone into effect on Jan. 19. That truce was supposed to culminate in a full exchange of captives and an Israeli withdrawal—terms that were not fulfilled.
The near-total blockade imposed since then has pushed food prices to record highs, while looting and violence increasingly surround both UN and non-UN aid operations.
“The looting and attacks have placed humanitarian workers and aid operations at severe risk,” WFP warned in its statement. “The absence of safe delivery threatens to make food distribution even harder.”
