Israel claims abundant aid entering Gaza as it rejects ‘distorted’ IPC report
Israel’s military and political authorities have once again rejected the findings by the world’s most reputable hunger monitor, which earlier said famine is no longer gripping Gaza but that the food situation remains dire for Palestinians.
COGAT, the Israeli army entity in charge of managing aid into Gaza, claimed in a statement that between 600 to 800 trucks of humanitarian aid have been entering the enclave daily since the October ceasefire, 70 percent of which carried food.
It said the IPC is only using partial data for its reports, again stressing that “the real challenge” is improving collection and distribution inside Gaza and preventing Hamas from taking the aid.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry also said in a statement that the IPC report is “once again deliberately distorted and doesn’t reflect the reality” in the besieged enclave.
It claimed that the aid that Israel has allowed to enter as part of the ceasefire is nearly five times more than what the IPC itself believes is required for Gaza.
Both entities have previously rejected several IPC reports, which detailed how famine began to take hold in Gaza as a direct result of Israel’s blockade of humanitarian aid.
Agencies warn limited access by Israel undermining Gaza aid
The UN’s FAO, WHO, WFP and UNICEF say import restrictions and access constraints imposed by Israel, as well as “major funding gaps”, are severely hindering their capacity to operate at the necessary scale in Gaza.
They said in a statement that interventions supporting food security, nutrition, health, water, sanitation, hygiene, agriculture and livelihood recovery are particularly affected, and warned that hundreds of thousands in the enclave are in dire need of that assistance.
“Even though markets are now better stocked with nutritious food following the improved flow of humanitarian and commercial deliveries, vulnerable families, especially those with children, cannot afford to buy it,” the agencies said.
According to the UN, since the ceasefire in October, more than 730,000 people have been displaced, many living in makeshift shelters and are heavily reliant on humanitarian assistance.
Displaced Palestinians gather to receive donated food portions at a charity kitchen in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on December 17
Israel’s ‘dual use list’ preventing aid from entering Gaza: Advocate
Natasha Hall, a senior advocate for Refugee International, has told Al Jazeera that aid has only entered Gaza in a “trickle” following the October 10 ceasefire.
That’s largely because of what she described as Israel’s “opaque dual use list”, which prohibits items Israel maintains can be used for military purposes. The list “has included things like diapers and bandages. It’s unclear how those could be used as weapons or any kind of dual use,” she said.
Other barriers to adequate aid access include the “blockage of the Rafah crossing, which was the main conduit for humanitarian aid in the past”.
