Israel Says Gaza Aid Gets Delayed, UN: Conflict Continues

Delivery of aid to Gaza. (Twitter/@DrTedros)

JAKARTA - Israeli authorities said on Wednesday that 1,150 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid were waiting to be unloaded from the Palestinian side at the Kerem Shalom crossing in the southern Gaza Strip, prompting the United Nations to say: "We are doing what we can."

COGAT, the Israeli Defense Ministry agency tasked with coordinating aid deliveries to the Palestinian territory, said another 50 trucks of aid were also waiting to be unloaded from the Palestinian side at the Erez crossing in northern Gaza.

The United Nations says it is struggling to distribute aid in the enclave of 2.3 million people as the war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas enters its tenth month and law and order has collapsed.

"Yes, aid is being distributed. But on the other side, you have the lawlessness, coupled with the ongoing conflict," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, as reported by Reuters on July 11.

"We continue to do our best to get that aid to the people who need it. Our partners in Gaza are not sitting idly by," he added.

He said UN trucks that did manage to pick up aid “often did so at great cost, because they were looted or attacked by criminal elements.”

“Some aid did get in, but very little,” he said.

The UN has long complained about the dangers and obstacles to getting aid into Gaza, after Israel inspects and approves all aid trucks, then distributes them inside the Palestinian enclave, where the global hunger monitor said last month there was a high risk of famine.

The top UN aid official for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Muhannad Hadi, briefed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday, a day after visiting Gaza, Dujarric said. Hadi entered and exited through the Kerem Shalom crossing.

“He saw groups of people with sticks waiting for trucks to come out of the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza. All the trucks he passed were badly damaged, with their windshields, mirrors, and hoods smashed in,” Dujarric told reporters.

Hadi also saw bags of fortified flour from the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, strewn along the road from Kerem Shalom to Gaza, Dujarric said.

In northern Gaza, WFP said military activity was limiting its operations. Israeli forces continued their attacks in northern and central Gaza on Wednesday, dropping leaflets urging the evacuation of Gaza City.

WFP has not delivered food from the Erez West crossing for several days, WFP spokeswoman Shaza Moghraby said.

"Distribution points have been evacuated and closed, people are fleeing in fear and every time this happens, it becomes more difficult for us to reach them, which has a major impact on our operations," she said.