Photos show crowds of desperate Palestinians struggling to get food

Hardly any food has entered northern Gaza for nearly four months. So when a rare convoy of aid trucks entered this week, gigantic crowds of desperate Palestinians were waiting for it.

They massed on what was once Gaza’s coastal highway, now a vast stretch of dirt bulldozed by Israeli troops and surrounded by the ruins of bombardment. The convoy from the World Food Program had been heading to Gaza City, but it was quickly stripped almost bare. Men and women walked off with bags of flour slung over their shoulders or carrying boxes of food.

Israel has allowed only a trickle of aid into Gaza for the U.N. to distribute since Israel eased a total blockade last month. Israel says the blockade is meant to pressure Hamas, but it has led to widespread food shortages and famine warnings for the population of over 2 million. The U.N. says it struggles to get even the small amount of aid directly to Palestinians because of Israeli military restrictions, looting by armed criminals and incidents like this of Palestinians overwhelming trucks.

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This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.