DEIR EL-BALAH, Palestinian Territories (AFP) — Thousands of desperate Palestinians stormed a United Nations (UN) warehouse in central Gaza on Wednesday, with the World Food Program (WFP) reporting two possible deaths in the tumult as Israel and the UN traded blame over the deepening hunger crisis.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza, where aid has finally begun to trickle in after a two-month blockade, is dire following 18 months of devastating war. Food security experts say starvation is looming for one in five people.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) footage showed crowds of Palestinians breaking into a WFP warehouse in Deir Al-Balah and taking bags of emergency food supplies as gunshots rang out.

“Hordes of hungry people broke into WFP’s Al-Ghafari warehouse in Deir Al-Balah, Central Gaza, in search of food supplies that were pre-positioned for distribution,” WFP said in a statement on X.

“Initial reports indicate two people died and several were injured in the tragic incident,” WFP said, adding that it was still confirming details.

Israel accused the UN Wednesday of seeking to block Gaza aid distribution, as the global body said it was doing its utmost to facilitate distribution of the limited assistance greenlit by Israel’s authorities.

The issue of aid has come sharply into focus amid starvation fears and intense criticism of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a private United States-backed aid group that has bypassed the longstanding UN-led system in the territory.

Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon told the Security Council that aid was entering Gaza by truck — under limited authorization by Israel at the Kerem Shalom crossing — and via a “new distribution mechanism developed in coordination with the US and key international partners.”

Danon was referring to the GHF operation, which he accused the UN of “trying to block,” saying it was “using threats, intimidation and retaliation against NGOs that choose to participate in the new humanitarian mechanism.”

The UN said 47 people were injured Tuesday when thousands of Palestinians rushed a GHF site. A Palestinian medical source reported at least one death.

Meanwhile, Gaza’s civil defense agency said Israeli strikes killed 44 people on Thursday, including 23 in an attack on a home in the center of the Palestinian territory.

“Forty-four people have been killed in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip,” civil defense official Mohammad Al-Mughayyir told AFP. “Twenty-three people were killed, others injured and several (are) missing following an Israeli air strike on the Qreinawi family’s home east of Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.”