Gaza City exodus swells as gunmen raid aid trucks with baby formula

The exodus from Gaza City continued on Friday as Israel pressed its controversial ground offensive, while a UN aid convoy carrying baby formula was reportedly looted at gunpoint.

Around 480,000 Palestinians have now fled Gaza City, the Israeli military said, up from 450,000 a day earlier.

Before Israel stepped up its operations to occupy the territory’s largest city, it housed about 1 million residents and displaced people.

The Israeli military said it had closed a temporary escape route to southern Gaza that had been open for several days, leaving only one road for those trying to head south.

Medics in Gaza reported at least 19 people killed in Israeli strikes since Friday morning.

The Israeli military said it had killed a senior member of a Hamas battalion and destroyed “observation posts” belonging to the Palestinian Islamist group.

In a separate incident on Thursday, gunmen hijacked four UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) trucks loaded with baby formula in Gaza City.

Israel’s agency for Palestinian affairs, COGAT, blamed Hamas, saying the trucks were seized directly from a UNICEF compound.

UNICEF said only that “armed individuals” held the drivers at gunpoint, seized the formula and later released both the drivers and the trucks.

The theft deprived at least 2,700 severely malnourished children of life-saving supplies, UNICEF said.

COGAT said the baby formula was meant for free distribution and accused Hamas of showing “no interest in the well-being of the people.”

Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of diverting aid – allegations Hamas denies. UN officials say Israel has not provided evidence to substantiate its claims, though some residents of famine-hit Gaza have acknowledged that Hamas members have been involved in looting.