LONDON, October 30. /TASS/. Four UN humanitarian aid distribution centers and a warehouse in the Gaza Strip have been put out of operation due to civil unrest, Reuters reported citing a spokesman for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

According to the agency, the civil disturbance halted the work of four UN aid distribution centers and a warehouse in the Gaza Strip. "Right now people are in survival mode. It's about getting enough flour and it's about getting enough water," Reuters cited Tom White, director of UNWRA Affairs in Gaza. "Effectively, we have lost Deir al-Balah (refugee camp - TASS). We'll see whether we can get that up and operational again, but of course it's complicated because right now the Rafah log (logistics) base has become a magnet for people who are either seeking shelter, seeking protection under the UN flag, or are trying to get into the warehouses to get flour," White said.

Earlier, UNRWA reported looting at several humanitarian aid warehouses in the Gaza Strip.

The situation in the Middle East sharply escalated following an incursion of Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip into Israel on October 7, accompanied by killings of residents of Israeli settlements near the border and taking hostages, including children, women and elderly people. Hamas regards the attack as a response to Israeli actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. Israel has declared a complete siege of the Gaza Strip and has started delivering strikes on that area and parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.