More than 100 pallets of International Medical Corps medical supplies that were being transported as part of a United Nations Logistics Cluster convoy, and that were meant for operations of the humanitarian organization’s field hospitals in Gaza, were looted on December 22 while en route to a UN warehouse. The convoy also included supplies for other humanitarian organizations.
Twenty-two of the 70 trucks in the convoy—which departed Kerem Shalom and was headed to Khan Yunis along the Philadelphi Corridor—were looted, including trucks carrying medical, hygiene and visibility supplies for the field hospitals. Of the 150 pallets that International Medical Corps was transporting in the convoy, 111 were looted, while 39 made it to the destination undisturbed.
International Medical Corps has operated in Gaza since 2008. It deployed a full-service field hospital there in early January, and now has two hospitals in central Gaza that so far have helped more than 400,000 civilians by providing emergency and trauma surgical services, obstetric and newborn care, nutrition, child protection, mental health and psychosocial support, and gender-based violence prevention and response. The global first responder also provides civilians with access to water, sanitation and hygiene services, as well as medicines, supplies and training.
Find out more about International Medical Corps and its response in Gaza.