More than 100 aid trucks carrying desperately needed supplies in Gaza have been "violently looted", according to the United Nations' Palestinian aid agency.
The convoy of 109 trucks carrying food from UNRWA and the World Food Programme was travelling from the Kerem Shalom border crossing in southern Gaza on Saturday, local time.
"The vast majority of the trucks, 97 in total, were lost and drivers were forced at gunpoint to unload aid," UNRWA said in a statement on social media.
The agency did not detail who had carried out the looting, but placed responsibility for the protection of aid convoys on the Israeli government.
"The Israeli authorities continue to disregard their legal obligations under international law to ensure the population's basic needs are met and to facilitate the safe delivery of aid," the statement said.
"Such responsibilities continue when trucks enter the Gaza Strip, until people are reached with essential assistance."
The ABC has contacted the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment.
It directed enquiries to the Israeli agency which coordinates operations in Gaza, known as COGAT, which did not provide an immediate response to questions.
A senior humanitarian source has previously told the ABC an atmosphere of lawlessness has developed in Gaza, beyond the conflict between Israel and militant group Hamas.
Israel was accused of effectively turning a blind eye to armed mobs targeting aid convoys, seizing supplies for sale at inflated prices through Gaza.
For its part, UNRWA said the latest looting incident would further exacerbate food shortages in the territory.
"Due to critical shortages of flour, all eight UN-supported bakeries in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis have been operating at diminished capacity for weeks," it said.
"Many have been forced to shut down entirely.
"Without immediate intervention, severe food shortages are set to worsen, further endangering the lives of over 2 million people who depend on humanitarian aid to survive."
Data published by COGAT has shown aid entering Gaza is at its lowest level since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
But Israeli authorities have repeatedly insisted there is no limit to the amount of aid it will let into the territory, instead blaming aid agencies for not picking it up and distributing it across Gaza.
Humanitarians have rejected those claims, accusing the IDF of making it too difficult to safely transport aid through Gaza.
No replacement for UNRWA, according to agency boss The looting comes around two months before UNRWA is to be banned from operating in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
In late October the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, overwhelmingly voted in favour of a law which would outlaw UNRWA within 90 days.
The Israeli government has been attacking UNRWA since the early days of the Israel Hamas war, labelling the agency as being infiltrated by Hamas and accusing its staff of helping the group carry out the deadly October 7 attacks.
A UN investigation found nine staff, out of more than 13,000 in Gaza, may have been involved and fired them.
In blocking UNRWA's operations, Israeli officials have said other agencies — including those run by the United Nations — can step in and fill the void.
"There is no plan B," UNRWA chef Philippe Lazzarini said in Geneva.
"If there is no UN or international community response, the responsibility will go back to the occupying power, being Israel.
"We will be operating until the day we cannot operate anymore, and meanwhile, we will exhaust all possible diplomatic avenues."
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