UN humanitarian coordinator reports of 'groups of men with sticks' waiting to loot aid trucks

The United Nations Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that Israel's instruction on Wednesday for people to leave Gaza City will only fuel mass suffering for Palestinian families, many of whom have been displaced many times, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said during a news briefing on Wednesday. 

The civilians must be protected and their essential needs must be met, whether they flee or whether they stay, he said, and the level of fighting and destruction seen in recent days as the ceasefire talks are ongoing is truly shocking, he added. 

Dujarric spoke of the challenges of receiving and distributing aid through the Kerem Shalom crossing, and said some aid is getting through but very little. 

Aid is being dropped off from the Israeli side and is being left in an area where the UN and some private sector entities are also picking up the aid, according to Dujarric. 

Dujarric said the UN trucks that are picking up aid are doing it often at a great cost because they are being either looted or attacked by criminal elements. 

"The aid is being dropped off. But on the other side of that you have other lawlessness, plus you have continuing conflict," he said. ' So it's not as if we're operating in a beautifully safe environment. We're operating in a highly challenging environment and we are continuing to do our best to get that aid to those people who need it."

Dujarric said that UN staff are 'trying to do whatever they can'

Dujarric added his UN colleagues in Gaza are not "sitting on their hands" as they're living in Gaza amid the population whether they be Palestinians or international staff. 

"They're trying to do whatever they can within this reality of losses and continued fighting," he said. 

Dujarric said that United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator Muhannad Hadi, who just returned from his third trip through the Gaza strip on Tuesday, briefed UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday. 

"What Mr. Hadi told us is that he saw firsthand the consequences of the breakdown in public order and safety, as he entered and exited Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing," Dujarric said. "He saw groups of men with sticks waiting for trucks to leave the Kerem Shalom crossing  into Gaza. All the trucks that he passed were badly damaged with broken windshields, mirrors and hoods."

When asked if the UN is in conversation with Israel, he said they're "discussing with various parties but the facts on the ground remain."

"We're discussing with various parties but the facts on the ground remain," he said. 

About UN and World Food Program groups coming back to provide distribution support to the US military pier, which was relocated again to Ashdod, Dujarric said "let's see what happens when the pier comes back online."

Dujarric acknowledged the current iteration of ceasefire negotiations, saying the UN's message to the parties involved is to "find the political courage to reach this deal."

"For the sake of the people of Gaza ,for the sake of the people of Israel, for the sake of the hostages," he said.