A breakdown in civil order has put four UN aid distribution centres and a storage facility out of action in Gaza as people search desperately for food and water, a UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) official has said.

Tom White, director of UNWRA Affairs in Gaza, also said that a logistics base at the Rafah border crossing vital to aid distribution had become increasingly difficult to operate because 8,000 people were sheltering at it.

“With the breakdown of civil order, every day now we’ve got hundreds of people trying to get into the warehouses to steal flour,” he told Reuters.

“Right now people are in survival mode. It’s about getting enough flour and it’s about getting enough water.”

“Effectively, we have lost Deir al-Balah. 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 added.