Assistance Truck Enters Gaza Strip After 11 Sunday Blockade

Illustration of humanitarian aid convoys. (Twitter/@WFP)

Israel allowed 100 aid trucks carrying flour, baby food and medical equipment into the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, the Israeli military said, as UN officials reported distribution issues caused no aid to reach people in need.

After an 11-week blockade on supplies entering Gaza, the Israeli military said a total of 98 aid trucks entered on Monday and Tuesday. However, the very few supplies have not yet reached public kitchens, bakeries, markets and hospitals in Gaza, according to aid officials and local bakeries who are ready to receive flour supplies.

"Not a single one of these aids - a very limited number of trucks - has reached the population of Gaza," said World Food Program (WFP) Country Director Antoine totaling.

The blockade has left Gazans fighting desperately to survive, despite international and domestic pressure on the Israeli government continuing to rise, which one opposition figure said risks turning the country into a "paria country".

Thousands of tons of food and other important supplies await near crossing points to Gaza, but until they can be distributed safely, about a quarter of the population is still at risk of starvation,

"I've been here since eight in the morning, just to get one plate for six people, meanwhile it's not enough for one person," said Mahmoud al-Haw, who said he often waited for up to six hours a day in the hope of getting soup to keep his children alive.

UN officials said security concerns had prevented aid from moving out of the logistics center at the Kerem Shalim crossing point, but late Wednesday hoped that supplies would move more freely.

Nahid Shahaiber, owner of a large transportation company, said 75 flour trucks and more than a dozen other trucks carrying nutritional and sugar supplements were in the southern region of Rafah, while witnesses said trucks carrying flour were visible in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

Israel imposed a blockade on all supplies entering Gaza in March, saying Hamas seized supplies aimed at civilians, charges the group denies.

Under increasing international pressure, Israel has allowed aid deliveries by the United Nations and other aid groups to be resumed for a while, to new US-backed distribution models using private contractors operating through so-called safe hubs starting at the end of the month.

However, the United Nations said the plan was impartial or neutral, and would not be involved.