UNRWA: Gaza Breakdown in Order Halts Four Aid Distribution Centers

 Palestinians search a damaged building following Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on October 30, 2023, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
Palestinians search a damaged building following Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on October 30, 2023, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
TT

UNRWA: Gaza Breakdown in Order Halts Four Aid Distribution Centers

 Palestinians search a damaged building following Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on October 30, 2023, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
Palestinians search a damaged building following Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on October 30, 2023, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)

A breakdown in civil order has put four UN aid distribution centers and a storage facility out of action in Gaza as people search desperately for food and water, a UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) official said on Monday.

Tom White, director of UNWRA Affairs in Gaza, also said that a logistics base at the Rafah border crossing vital to aid distribution had become increasingly difficult to operate because 8,000 people were sheltering at it.

"With the breakdown of civil order, every day now we've got hundreds of people trying to get into the warehouses to steal flour," he told Reuters.

"Right now people are in survival mode. It's about getting enough flour and it's about getting enough water."

Thousands of Gaza residents broke into UN warehouses on Sunday to seize flour and other items. One of the warehouses, in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, is where UNRWA stores supplies delivered by humanitarian convoys crossing into Gaza from Egypt.

"Effectively, we have lost Deir al-Balah. We'll see whether we can get that up and operational again, but of course it's complicated because right now the Rafah log (logistics) base has become a magnet for people who are either seeking shelter, seeking protection under the UN flag, or are trying to get into the warehouses to get flour," White said.

Aid to Gaza has been choked since Israel began bombarding the Palestinian enclave in response to an attack by the Hamas militant group on Oct. 7 that killed 1,400 people.

There has been a mounting international outcry over the toll from the bombing. Medical authorities in Hamas-run Gaza, which has a population of 2.3 million people, said on Monday that 8,306 people - including 3,457 minors - had been killed.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said so far 140 trucks of aid had entered Gaza since Oct. 7 and the biggest delivery so far of 33 trucks arrived on Sunday.

But UN officials say at least 100 trucks a day are required to cover Gaza's urgent needs. Before the war several hundred trucks were normally arriving in Gaza daily.

Aid entering from Egypt is being driven on a round-trip of more than 84 km (52 miles) from Rafah for inspection on the Egypt-Israel border, triggering Egyptian complaints.

Israel says it does not want aid to enter from its territory or to fall into the hands of Hamas, refusing delivery of fuel, water supplies and relief distribution in Gaza.

On Sunday. US President Joe Biden and Egypt's Abdel Fattah al-Sisi committed to a significant acceleration of assistance. Several dozen trucks set off from the Egyptian side of Rafah on Monday, humanitarian and security sources said.

Collapse of services

But White said that due to delays, the situation was so bad that more aid was no longer a solution to Gaza's plight. A humanitarian ceasefire was needed, he said.

"With a collapse of public services, that's not going to be something that's going to be solved by food, water or medicine. If the public sector collapses here, you're into a different magnitude of need," he said

UNRWA was unable to distribute flour to bakers on Sunday and was down to distributing one liter of potable water per person to displaced people, he said, adding that in a humanitarian response a survival rate was three liters per day.

White said Gaza's south had been overwhelmed by an influx of displaced people from the north.

Access on roads was reasonable in the south, but increasingly difficult in the north due to damage and security as Israeli forces attacked Gaza's main northern city.

Tommaso Della Longa, spokesperson of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said Gaza was in desperate condition.

"The longer it continues the more we will see desperation," he said. "If you are not able to get supplies to people who are starving, people will find a way."



Lebanon's Hezbollah Struggles with Missing Fighters Amid Community Pressure

Mourners carry a picture of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah during the funeral procession of their relatives, in Maisara near the northern coastal town of Byblos, Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Mourners carry a picture of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah during the funeral procession of their relatives, in Maisara near the northern coastal town of Byblos, Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
TT

Lebanon's Hezbollah Struggles with Missing Fighters Amid Community Pressure

Mourners carry a picture of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah during the funeral procession of their relatives, in Maisara near the northern coastal town of Byblos, Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Mourners carry a picture of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah during the funeral procession of their relatives, in Maisara near the northern coastal town of Byblos, Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

The issue of missing Hezbollah fighters from the Israeli war continues to cause distress for both the group and the families awaiting news or the return of their remains for burial.

Three weeks after the ceasefire began, the fate of more than 1,000 fighters remains unknown. Contact with them was lost, and their bodies have not been found, leaving it unclear whether they were killed in battle or captured by the Israeli military.

The Israeli military has confirmed capturing Hezbollah fighters, though the exact number is unclear. Some reports suggest about 10 fighters are held, and the Israeli forces have released video footage of two of them being interrogated.

Hezbollah confirmed that prisoners are held by Israel, with former media official Mohammed Afif acknowledging their capture. Since the ceasefire, the group’s leaders have kept quiet about the issue, only stating it is being monitored.

They often refer to a pledge made by former Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, who said, “We will not leave our captives in prison.”

Sources say Hezbollah raised the prisoner issue during talks on the ceasefire agreement, but it was not addressed. They were promised it would be discussed later. Some believe their release could be linked to any broader resolution being worked on for Gaza.

Hezbollah has not yet revealed the number of its fighters killed during 66 days of conflict with Israel. The group stopped reporting casualties in late September, when the count stood at 450 deaths since the war began on October 8, 2023.

While estimates suggest more than 3,000 Hezbollah fighters were killed by the end of the war, sources tell Asharq Al-Awsat that between 1,000 and 1,500 are still missing after contact was lost with them.

Hezbollah has informed the families of these missing fighters of their status, either days before or weeks before the ceasefire took effect. They have said that their fate will be determined through ongoing search operations.

For those whose bodies were found, families were told their loved ones were “martyrs,” a term Hezbollah uses for fallen fighters.

Most bodies have been returned, and burials have taken place. However, many families were told their relatives are “missing in action,” as no trace of them was found due to the destruction caused by bombings, which made it difficult to search.

Fatima, who waited 60 days to hear from her husband, was informed two days ago that he is a “martyr, missing in action.”

Umm Hussein, the mother of another fighter, is still waiting for news of her son, who lost contact with her over a month ago.

Another woman, considered “lucky,” received her brother’s body after losing contact with him four weeks ago. She said: “Knowing he was martyred is better than waiting without knowing his fate.”

Zainab is still hopeful about her brother, who last contacted her 75 days ago. She was told he was in a hard-to-reach area, and search efforts would begin once Israeli forces withdrew.

Zainab remains hopeful, saying: “We haven’t lost hope. If he’s among the martyrs, we’ll still be happy because he has reached his goal.”

In contrast, Salma lost all hope when she learned her father had been killed.

“Although we lost contact with him about three weeks before the ceasefire, Hezbollah contacts reassured us he was fine. When the ceasefire started, we learned he had been martyred. It was a shock for us.”

Local sources in southern Lebanon told Asharq Al-Awsat that the issue of prisoners and missing fighters is becoming a major crisis for Hezbollah, especially for the fighters’ families and the community.

There have been growing protests and complaints against Hezbollah officials, who are being criticized for not doing enough for both the missing and captured fighters.

Hezbollah’s media also seems confused about how to handle the issue, as shown by conflicting reports.

On Tuesday, its news broadcast stated that bodies of martyrs were being recovered from the rubble in the southern town of Al-Adaisseh and would be extended to Taybeh and beyond.

However, two hours later, the report was updated, quoting a correspondent who said that “the Lebanese Army had not entered Al-Adaisseh, and no bodies had been recovered, nor had any similar operation been carried out in Taybeh.”

It also mentioned that “communications with UNIFIL forces on this issue had not been successful so far.”