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Aid groups say Israel missed US deadline to boost humanitarian help for Gaza
Israel has failed to meet the US demands to allow greater humanitarian access to the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, where conditions are worse than at any point in the 13-month-old war, international aid organisations said.
The Biden administration last month called on Israel to “surge” more food and other emergency aid into Gaza, giving it a 30-day deadline expiring on Tuesday. It warned that failure to comply could trigger US laws requiring it to scale back military support to Israel.
Israel has announced a series of steps towards improving the situation. But US officials recently signalled Israel isn’t doing enough, though they have not said if they will take any action against it.
Israel’s new foreign minister, Gideon Saar, appeared to downplay the deadline, telling reporters on Monday he was confident “the issue would be solved”. The Biden administration may have less leverage after the re-election of Trump, who was a staunch supporter of Israel in his first term.
Tuesday’s report, authored by eight international aid organisations, listed 19 measures of compliance with the US demands. It said Israel had failed to comply with 15 and only partially complied with four.
The report was co-signed by Anera, Care, MedGlobal, Mercy Corps, the Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam, Refugees International and Save the Children.
Israeli army claims aid delivered to northern Gaza’s Jabalia, Beit Hanoon
The Israeli army says hundreds of food and water packages have been delivered to northern Gaza’s Jabalia and Beit Hanoon areas by the Israeli government body overseeing humanitarian aid, COGAT, in cooperation with international aid organisations.
It claimed that 741 aid trucks had been allowed into northern Gaza via the Beit Hanoon (Erez) crossing since October.
We reported earlier that international aid organisations have accused Israel of failing to meet the US demands to allow greater humanitarian access to the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, where conditions are worse than at any point in the 13-month-old war.
Humanitarian experts and aid groups have long warned that the limited amount of aid trickling into Gaza is nowhere near enough. Before the war began last year, an average of 500 trucks carrying aid and other goods would cross into the Gaza Strip each day.
741 since October is an average of 17 per day... And that's all half filled trucks for 'security' reasons.
Israel claims to have opened new humanitarian aid crossing into Gaza
The Israeli army says it has opened a new land crossing “as part of the effort and commitment to increase the volume and routes of aid” into the Gaza Strip.
The Kisufim crossing, near Khan Younis, was made available for the “delivery of food, water, medical supplies, and shelter equipment to central and southern Gaza”, the army said in a statement.
The United States this week is set to decide on Israel’s progress towards improving the humanitarian situation in Gaza, after Washington gave its ally 30 days to implement a series of measures or risk restrictions on US military aid.
Last week, a UN report showed how civilians have borne the brunt of the Israeli siege on Gaza and highlighted the Israeli government’s failure to facilitate and ensure the entry of humanitarian aid, in breach of international law.
