UN halts aid transport through key Gaza crossing after robberies

The Kerem Shalom border crossing into the Gaza Strip, the most important transit route for aid deliveries, will no longer be used until further notice for security reasons, the head of the UN relief agency said on Sunday.

In mid-November, a large aid convoy was looted at the crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip by armed gangs, and on Saturday an entire convoy of several lorries carrying food was stolen.

"This difficult decision comes at a time hunger is rapidly deepening," Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), said in a post on X on Sunday. "The delivery of humanitarian aid must never be dangerous or turn into an ordeal."

As the occupying power in the Gaza Strip, Israel must ensure the protection of humanitarian aid workers and the supply of relief supplies, Lazzarini emphasized in his post.

The Israeli government, however, has repeatedly denounced UNRWA and passed a highly controversial ban against the aid agency that would prohibit any operations on Israeli territory beginning early next year.

"I call once again for a ceasefire that would also secure the delivery of safe and uninterrupted aid to people in need," Lazzarini said.