Looting of Gaza stores signals worsening hunger crisis

Increased looting of food stores and community kitchens in the Gaza Strip shows growing desperation as hunger spreads two months after Israel cut off supplies to the Palestinian territory, aid officials say.

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CAIRO - Increased looting of food stores and community kitchens in the Gaza Strip shows growing desperation as hunger spreads two months after Israel cut off supplies to the Palestinian territory, aid officials say.

Palestinian residents and aid officials said at least five incidents of looting took place across the enclave on April 30, including at community kitchens, merchants' stores and the UN Palestinian refugee agency's (UNRWA) main complex in Gaza.

Israeli forces are continuing their aerial and ground offensive across Gaza in the war with Palestinian militant group Hamas that began nearly 19 months ago. Israeli air strikes on May 1 killed at least 12 people, the territory's health ministry said.

The looting "is a grave signal of how serious things have become in the Gaza Strip - the spread of hunger, the loss of hope and desperation among residents as well as the absence of the authority of the law", said Mr Amjad al-Shawa, director of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organisations Network in Gaza.