The United Nations has condemned a group of “armed individuals” for raiding warehouses in the Palestinian territory of Gaza and looting large amounts of medical supplies, according to AFP.

The group “stormed the warehouses at a field hospital in Deir al-Balah, looting large quantities of medical equipment, supplies, medicines, nutritional supplements that was intended for malnourished children”, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The stolen aid had been brought into Gaza just a day earlier, he said. “As conditions on the ground further deteriorate and public order and safety break down, looting incidents continue to be reported,” he said.

But Dujarric highlighted the difference between yesterday’s event and the looting two days earlier of a UN World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse by “starving” Palestinians, desperate for aid.

“This appeared to be much more organised and much different from the looting we’d seen … in the past days,” he said. “This was an organised operation with armed men.”