Israeli civilians try to stop aid lorries from entering Gaza
Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza Israeli protesters are attempting to block aid deliveries to Gaza through the Karam Abu Salem crossing. Video online showed lorries lined up on the road as men waving Israeli flags stood in front of them and stop them from crossing. Five lorries entered Gaza on Monday with the first delivery of aid for the Palestinian territory's 2.2 million people since Israel imposed a blockade on March 2. The UN Office for Co-ordination for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Tuesday that it had received permission from Israel to send in about 100 more lorries. Israel's decision to allow aid deliveries to resume comes amid increasing international pressure over what critics say is the weaponisation of hunger in its war against Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza. Far right members of Israel's government, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, both settlers, are strongly opposed to the move, which they say would be a 'gift to Hamas'. On Monday, Israel cleared nine aid lorries for entry to Gaza but only five were allowed in. None of that aid has been distributed so far, according to the UN and aid agencies, although levels of hunger among Gazans have reached dangerous levels. This month, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said Gaza's entire population was at risk of famine. Health authorities in the enclave have said dozens of people, many of them children, have died from hunger. Speaking to The National, UN officials and NGOs said the amount of aid Israel is letting in is not enough. 'To think that 19 months into the conflict and 11 weeks into a full blockade, with IPC figures and images of emaciated people, including children, have been on full display, we are all back to counting trucks is truly disheartening,' said Tamara Alrifai, director of external relations and communications at the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA. Before the war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a deadly attack on southern Israel, Gaza was receiving at least 600 lorryloads of supplies each day. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced an easing of the aid blockade on Monday, saying that pressure from Israel's supporters over the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza was reaching a 'red line'. In comments after a trip to the region last week, which did not include Israel, US President Donald Trump said Gazans were 'starving'. A US-Israeli plan for the distribution of aid has also been internationally criticised and boycotted by aid groups. Under the scheme, aid would be allowed in and immediately given out through four 'hubs', rather than stockpiled and distributed to people in need. This places civilians at risk and encourages their displacement, in beach of international humanitarian law, they said. Ms Al Rifai said the UN systems had worked when Israel allowed aid in and there was enough political will to see it through, as was seen during a ceasefire from mid-January to mid-March, when hundreds of lorries were allowed in daily. Even instances of looting by armed gangs had decreased in that time, because there was enough aid to go around, a UN official previously told The National.
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