The WFP said the new $US320 million ($480 million) pier project for delivering aid to northern Gaza may also fail unless Israel starts ensuring the conditions the humanitarian groups need to operate safely. The operation was halted for at least two days after crowds looted aid trucks coming from the port and one Palestinian man was killed.

Most of the trucks in an aid convoy were stripped of all their goods on the way to a warehouse in central Gaza, the WFP said. The first aid transported by sea had entered the besieged enclave on Friday.

Only five of the 16 aid trucks that left the secured area on Saturday arrived at the intended warehouse with their cargo intact, another WFP spokesperson, Steve Taravella, told The Associated Press.

“Without sufficient supplies entering Gaza, these issues will continue to surface. Community acceptance and trust that this is not a one-off event are essential for this operation’s success,” Taravella said in an email. “We have raised this issue with the relevant parties and reiterated our request for alternative roads to facilitate aid delivery. Unless we receive the necessary clearance and coordination to use additional routes, this operation may not be successful.”

Loading

The Pentagon said movement of aid from the secured area at the port resumed on Tuesday, but the UN said it was not aware of any deliveries then.

The WFP was now reevaluating logistics and security measures and looking for alternate routes within Gaza, said spokesperson Abeer Etefa. It was working with the US Agency for International Development to coordinate the deliveries.

Authorities have offered limited details of what transpired on Saturday. However, Associated Press video shows Israeli armoured vehicles on a beach road, then aid trucks moving down the road. Civilians watching from the roadside gradually start to clamber on top of the aid trucks, throwing aid down to people below. Numbers of people then appear to overrun the aid trucks and their goods.

At one point, shots crackled, and some of the men in the crowd are shown apparently ducking behind aid boxes for cover. A local morgue later confirmed to the AP that a man had been killed by a rifle shot.

Loading

It was not clear who fired the shots. The Israeli military is responsible for security for the aid when it reaches the shore. Once it leaves the secure area at the port, aid groups follow their own security protocols.

Asked about the shooting, the Israeli army told the AP, using the acronym for the Israel Defence Forces: “The IDF is currently focused on eliminating the threat from the terrorist organisation Hamas.”

Dujarric said aid convoys do not travel with armed security.

AP