Israel Announces 284 Humanitarian Aid Transport Trucks Entering Gaza

Illustration of humanitarian aid trucks entering Gaza. (Twitter/@PalestinineRCS)

JAKARTA - Israel announced about 248 humanitarian aid trucks entering the Gaza Strip, Palestine on Tuesday, according to a statement from the Coordinator of Israeli Government Activities in the Region (COGAT).

Of all the trucks entering the trapped enclave area, 175 trucks were moved through the Kerem SALom crossing and 73 trucks were moved from the Nitzana crossing, COGAT said.

In addition, 21 other aid trucks were transferred "via Jordanian delivery channels," COGAT said, as reported by CNN, March 21.

Meanwhile, in Gaza, 126 trucks containing aid were distributed.

"The convoy of 9 food trucks to northern Gaza last night. Over the past 3 weeks, more than 150 trucks have been moved to the northern Gaza Strip, mostly by the private sector," added COGAT.

Israeli authorities also added that fuel was received by five pump facilities in northern Gaza, while four tankers filled with gas to cook entered the area on Tuesday.

"More than 200,000 doses of differial, tetanus, cough rejan and hepatitis B vaccine donated by UNICEF also arrived in Gaza," Israel said.

The statement added that Israel Defense Forces (IDF) suspended operations for four hours on Wednesday in the western neighborhood of Rafah "to allow the movement of humanitarian aid."

It is known that the UN Aid and Work Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) last November said about 200 trucks of aid for humanitarian aid were needed every day to meet the needs of the people in Gaza.

Most recently, the United Nations has warned for weeks that hunger will occur in Gaza, with aid agencies reporting great difficulties in gaining access to the region, particularly the northern part.

In fact, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the residents of the Gaza Strip were experiencing "acute food cloud at a severe level, underscoring the importance of increasing the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian enclave.

Several countries in the world have criticized Israel for rising hunger in the region, including Egypt and Iraq.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Israel sparked hunger in the Gaza Strip and used hunger as a weapons of war, a charge Israeli foreign ministers have denied.

"In Gaza we are no longer on the verge of starvation, we are in a state of hunger that has an impact on thousands of people," Borrell said at the opening of a humanitarian aid conference for Gaza in Brussels, Belgium.

"This is unacceptable. Starvation is used as a weapons of war. Israel is triggering starvation," Borrell criticized.

Israel denies the allegations, with Israeli Foreign Minister Katz saying Israel is allowing aid to enter Gaza, rejecting EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell's claim that it deliberately starving Gazans.

"Israel allows large amounts of humanitarian aid to Gaza by land, air, and sea for anyone willing to help," wrote Foreign Minister Katz in X.