World Food Program suspends Gaza operations after armed raid, U.N. says
Armed men linked to Hamas entered a Jabalia food point and a WFP warehouse, and the U.N. said aid distributions stopped in part of northern Gaza.
Armed men linked to Hamas forced their way into a food distribution point in Jabalia and entered a World Food Programme warehouse, pushing humanitarian workers to halt food distributions in that part of northern Gaza. Ramiz Alakbarov, the U.N. deputy special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, said the men assaulted two truck drivers delivering humanitarian supplies. He called the events “not isolated” and said they reflected a broader pattern of intimidation, violence and obstruction affecting relief work.
Hamas rejected the allegations, calling the site not raided but instead the scene of an “official law enforcement operation” after alleged smuggled items were found concealed in aid parcels. Its police said they had discovered an attempt to smuggle cigarettes and mobile phone screens using humanitarian convoys. COGAT, the Israeli military body overseeing civilian affairs in the Palestinian territories, accused Hamas of exploiting humanitarian aid for its own purposes.
Only one crossing is open at Kerem Shalom, forcing supplies bound for northern Gaza to move through the south on damaged and congested roads. Restrictions, insecurity and funding shortages are limiting relief operations across the enclave.
The WFP has dispatched more than 1,200 trucks carrying 18,247 metric tons of food aid inside Gaza since May 21, 2025. It offloaded 1,387 trucks with more than 26,000 metric tons of food aid through the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings. Even so, nearly one person in three in Gaza was not eating for days, and more than 700,000 people had been forced to relocate since March 18, 2025.
The WFP needs $258 million for operations in Gaza and the West Bank through October 2026. The war began in October 2023 after Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel killed more than 1,100 people and took about 240 captives. A ceasefire took effect on October 10, 2025, but fatalities and injuries in Gaza have continued since then.
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