The Israeli army showed the press on Thursday the arrival of aid shipments into the Gaza Strip via the Kerem Shalom crossing, as Israel is accused of preventing humanitarian aid from reaching the territory Palestinian under siege.
International aid organizations have repeatedly raised the alarm over the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, saying civilians are starving and aid deliveries are at their lowest since the start of the war, sparked by the Hamas attack in Israel on October 7, 2023.
Israel, which has imposed a total siege on the territory, often blames humanitarian organizations for their inability to distribute large quantities of aid.
During the first visit organized for the media, including AFP, to the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing, the main entry point for humanitarian aid, journalists saw trucks carrying aid mainly from Egypt, Jordan, occupied West Bank and Israel awaiting distribution.
Support also comes from Unicef, Rahma Worldwide and the World Food Kitchen. Its distribution is organized by international organizations which employ local drivers.
– “Survival conditions” –
“Today we have more than 800 shipments waiting for the international community to pick them up and deliver them to the people of Gaza,” Colonel Abdallah Halabi, who heads the Gaza division within Cogat, the state body, told reporters. of the Israeli Ministry of Defense responsible for civil affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
According to him, goods often wait for “months” on the Palestinian side of Kerem Shalom, the crossing point with southern Israel.
However, international organizations, in particular the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), accuse the Israeli authorities of preventing trucks from entering the Gaza Strip.
Mr. Halabi rejected the accusation, saying there are no restrictions on trucks or the amount of aid allowed into the territory.
Israel and humanitarian organizations have also reported looting by armed gangs or desperate civilians.
In addition, delivery routes are sometimes blocked by Israeli military operations or fighting with Hamas.
Cogat international spokesman Shimon Freedman said Israel was “always” looking for solutions, adding that new crossings and routes had been opened.
According to UNRWA, only 65 aid trucks per day were able to enter the Gaza Strip in October, compared to an average of 500 before the war. No UN-mandated truck had been able to reach the north of the territory, which was plagued by fighting, the agency added.
“Survival conditions are dwindling for the estimated 65,000 to 75,000 people who are still there” in northern Gaza, she wrote on X.
