Tel Aviv, Israel (AP) — The United Nations and experts say Palestinians in Gaza are at risk of hunger.
But Israel says hundreds of truck aid are waiting at the border for the UN to distribute to Gaza. On Thursday, Israeli forces took journalists to the Gaza side of the Kelem Shalom intersection, where hundreds of boxes of aid were on the pallets, filling up a huge number of huge ones.
Israel says it has allowed around 4,500 aid trucks as it lifted the total lockdown in May. It’s a truck load of 70 a day, one of the lowest fees in the war, and says it’s far less than the hundreds the UN needs every day.
Israel says it brings enough aid and mistakes to UN agencies because it hasn’t done enough to retrieve and deliver it to those in need. The United Nations says Israel’s military restrictions are hampered by its movement and criminal looting cases.
Let’s see why we can’t deliver assistance.
Dangerous routes, bureaucracy, access denied
To retrieve aid at the border, or to travel around most of the Gaza Strip, you will need to enter a military-controlled zone after the UN truck has obtained permission. Once aid is loaded, the truck must safely reach the population. According to the United Nations, the entire trip can take 20 hours.
Not only a gang of criminals, but a huge crowd of hopeless people overwhelm the truck as they enter supplies and peel off. Witnesses say Israeli forces regularly fired fire on crowds, causing death and injuries.
“These factors put people and humanitarian staff at a significant risk, and often forced aid agencies to suspend cargo collection from intersections controlled by Israeli authorities.”
At least 79 Palestinians were killed while trying to enter Gaza this week, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. Israeli forces fired fire at crowds trying to ingest food from truck fleets, and a UN official who was not permitted to publicly discuss the issue, said he spoke on condition of anonymity. Israeli forces said soldiers shot a gathering of thousands of Palestinians in northern Gaza, pose a threat.
Ocha said on its website there is a breakdown of law and order. This is due to the collapse of the private police run by Hamas in Gaza, leading to uncertainty amongst the intersection and the convoy traveling around Gaza. He said this has been exacerbated by an increase in armed gangs.
The military “frequently allocates routes to use truck routes that are not passed by long truck convoys, passing through crowded markets, or controlled by dangerous gangs,” Ocha said. When the UN opposes the route, the military said it offers little alternatives.
The United Nations is also struggling to facilitate it from the military. They either were denied or blocked by the military in May, June and July, or 506 of the 894 people said that more than half of their campaign demands were denied or blocked.
There are also regular delays in coordination by the Israeli military. The delays have lost time, made planning difficult, wasted resources and “were hours waiting for the convoy to “wait for just the green light to move, just to reject,” Ocha said.
Israel says it will not impose restrictions on aid trucks entering Gaza
Israel has not restricted assistance for trucks entering Gaza, and Gaza roads are assessed weekly, saying it is looking for the best way to access the international community.
Cogat’s top official, Colonel Abdullah Halaby, is the Israeli military body responsible for transferring aid to the territory, and said several intersections are open.
“We are encouraging our collections to friends and colleagues in the international community to distribute humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza,” he said.
An Israeli security official, who was not named in line with military procedures, told reporters this week that the UN would like to use roads that are not approved.
He said the Army offered to escort the aid group, but they refused.
The United Nations says that providing ample assistance every day will solve the problem.
For much of the war, UN agencies were able to safely provide assistance to those in need of it despite Israel’s restrictions and occasional attacks and looting. Hamaslan Police provided public safety. However, it could not be run as Israeli airstrikes targeted police.
The UN says that escorting Israeli forces could cause harm to civilians, citing the shootings and killings by Israeli forces surrounding aid operations.
The UN and aid groups also say that looting trucks will either be stopped completely or completely if Gaza is granted sufficient aid.
“The best protection for us is the buy-in of the community,” said UN spokesman Stephen Dujaric. “And to get the buy-in of that community, the community must understand that trucks come every day, food comes every day.”
“That’s what we want,” he said.
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UN Associated Press Writer Edith M. Lederer contributed.
