‘Desperate, traumatised people’: Gaza faces wave of looting, theft and violence

Aid officials and residents report breakdown in law and order as food and supplies run out during Israeli blockade

Gaza has been hit by a wave of looting and theft as increasingly desperate Palestinians struggle to get food while criminal gangs exploit a breakdown in law and order.

Aid officials and witnesses in the devastated territory describe armed men attacking humanitarian warehouses, firefights over remaining food stores and a spate of stealing of supplies vital for survival, such as solar chargers, batteries, phones and cooking pots.