Desperation filled the air on Wednesday night as aid trucks finally crossed the border into the Gaza Strip.
Civilians rushed a truck in Khan Younis, on its way to a bakery, and fuelled by hunger began looting the bags of flour on its flatbed.Â
Abdul Mohsen Fayyad was among the people rushing for the flour.
“Hunger makes you do bad things,” he told CBC freelance videographer Mohamed El Saife.Â
The 45-year-old said he’s been on a diet of plain rice just to be able to take his medication and quench his hunger. But as soon as he heard the trucks come in, he joined looters to try and secure a bag of flour.Â
“We want to eat, we want to live, we want an honourable life,” he said.Â
CBC News followed a humanitarian truck that entered the Gaza Strip in the southern city of Khan Younis on Wednesday evening as it was besieged by hungry civilians who took bags of flour from the truck before it could arrive at the bakery where it was meant to unload.
In an instant, gunshots could be heard nearby — gangs gathering to clear the scene. Sixteen-year-old Ahmed Al-Faqawi barely managed to get a bag of flour before crawling under the truck for cover.Â
He said he was sleeping when he heard the trucks drive by, and came running.Â
“When I saw people attacking, I did it, too,” he said, and then ran off into the night, a bag of flour on his back.Â
Israel allowed 100 aid trucks carrying flour, baby food and medical equipment into the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, the Israeli military said, as UN officials reported that distribution issues had meant no aid had so far reached people in need.Â
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would be open to a temporary ceasefire to enable the return of hostages. But otherwise he said it would press ahead with a military campaign to gain total control of Gaza.Â
The Palestinian health minister said on Thursday that 29 children and elderly people had died from starvation-related deaths in Gaza in recent days, and that many thousands more were at risk.Â
