Gaza: Israel announces partial pause in operations

The Israeli army announced on Sunday its intention to observe a pause in its operations in an area of ​​southern Gaza until further notice. This decision should allow the entry of more humanitarian aid into the Palestinian territory, devastated by more than eight months of war and threatened with famine. This decision was made public the day after the death of 11 Israeli soldiers, including eight in a bomb explosion in the Gaza Strip.

The break “will be observed from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day and until further notice” in the area from Kerem Shalom to the Salaheddine road in Gaza and then towards the north of the Palestinian territory, the army explained. Kerem Shalom is located in the south of Gaza and the Salaheddine road runs along the territory from north to south.

The UN says that aid entering Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing is very difficult to transport and distribute to the population who lack water, food and medicine, due to bombings and fighting. The pause was decided to allow an “increase in the volume of humanitarian aid entering Gaza,” she said in a statement.

A “net” of aid

According to Matthew Hollingworth, director for the Palestinian Territories of the World Food Program, since aid trucks began entering Gaza through Kerem Shalom, a “trickle” of aid has arrived. “But this must turn into a river of aid if we are to ensure that we do not see the most acute forms of hunger become more common,” he warned.

While elsewhere in the world, Muslims celebrate Eid al-Adha, the major Muslim holiday, Palestinians in Gaza deplore multiple shortages of basic necessities.

The Gaza Strip, besieged by Israel, is in the grip of a major humanitarian crisis, where 75% of the approximately 2.4 million inhabitants have been displaced by the war and where the population is threatened with famine according to the UN.

AFP

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