Palestinian children wait in line with their jars as Human Rights, Freedoms and Humanitarian Aid (IHH) distributes hot meals at Jabalia Refugee Camp as Israeli attacks continue in the northern Gaza Strip on June 13, 2024.
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JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military on Sunday announced a “tactical pause” in its offensive in the southern Gaza Strip to allow the delivery of increasing amounts of humanitarian aid.
The military said the pause would begin in the Rafah area at 8 a.m. (05:00 GMT, 1 a.m. Eastern) and be in effect until 7 p.m. (16:00 GMT, noon Eastern). It said the suspension will be daily until further notice.
The pause is intended to allow aid trucks to reach the nearby Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom border crossing, the main entry point for aid, and move safely to the Salah a-Din highway, the main northern road. -nam, to provide supplies to others. parts of Gaza, the army said. They said the suspension was being coordinated with the United Nations and international aid agencies.
The crossing has been congested since Israeli ground troops entered Rafah in early May.
Israel’s eight-month military offensive against the militant group Hamas has plunged Gaza into a humanitarian crisis, with the United Nations reporting widespread famine and hundreds of thousands of people on the brink of famine. . The international community has called on Israel to do more to alleviate the crisis.
According to figures from the United Nations humanitarian office, known as OCHA, from May 6 to June 6, the United Nations received an average of 68 aid trucks per day. That was down from 168 trucks a day in April and well below the 500 trucks a day that aid groups say is needed.
Aid flows in southern Gaza have decreased as humanitarian needs grow. More than 1 million Palestinians, many of them displaced, fled Rafah after the invasion, flocking to other areas in southern and central Gaza. Most are now languishing in ramshackle tent camps, using trenches as toilets, with open sewage in the streets.
COGAT, the Israeli military agency that oversees aid distribution in Gaza, said there were no restrictions on truck entry. The organization said more than 8,600 trucks of all types, both aid and commercial, entered Gaza from all border crossings between May 2 and June 13, an average of 201 per day. But much of that aid has piled up at intersections and has not reached its final destination.
Children gather with pots to receive food aid from a kitchen at the Jabalia camp for Palestinian refugees in the northern Gaza Strip on June 13, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in the territory. Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas.
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COGAT spokesman Shimon Freedman said it was the United Nations’ fault that its goods were piling up on the Gaza side of Kerem Shalom. He said the agencies have “fundamental logistical problems that they have not resolved,” especially truck shortages.
The United Nations denies such allegations. They say the fighting between Israel and Hamas often makes it too dangerous for U.N. trucks inside Gaza to travel to Kerem Shalom, which is right next to the Israeli border.
They also said the pace of deliveries had been slowed because the Israeli military had to authorize drivers to travel to locations, a system Israel said was designed for driver safety. Due to lack of security, in some cases aid trucks were also looted by mobs while moving along Gaza’s roads.
The new arrangement aims to reduce the need to coordinate deliveries by providing an uninterrupted 11-hour period each day for trucks to move in and out of the junction.
It is unclear whether the military will provide security to protect aid trucks as they move along the highway.
