Border closure depletes U.N. food aid centers

Gazans seeking food aid walked away empty-handed from locked United Nations distribution centers after a strict Israeli border closure depleted U.N. food reserves.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Israel to open the crossings to humanitarian aid. Measures that increase the suffering “are unacceptable and should cease immediately,” he said in a statement.

In the Shati refugee camp, hundreds of people sought food at a U.N. distribution center but were disappointed. A note taped to the center’s gate said handouts were put off until Dec. 13 “because of a lack of food to distribute.”

The U.N. Relief and Works Agency usually distributes food to about 750,000 Gazans, nearly half the territory’s population. Israel sealed Gaza’s borders recently in response to renewed Palestinian hostilities.