Over 120 truckloads of food aid 'distributed in Gaza'
Trucks carrying aid line up near the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. Photo: Reuters
Israel said on Monday that more than 120 truckloads of food aid were distributed by the UN and aid agencies in the Gaza Strip on the first day of a promised limited break in fighting.
On Sunday, Israel declared a "tactical pause" in military operations in part of Gaza and promised to open secure routes for aid, urging humanitarian groups to step up food distribution.
"Over 120 trucks were collected and distributed yesterday by the UN and international organisations," said Cogat, an Israeli defence ministry body overseeing civilian affairs in the Palestinian territories.
"An additional 180 trucks entered Gaza and are now awaiting collection and distribution, along with hundreds of others still queued for UN pickup," Cogat said in a post on X.
The post came as United Nations chief Antonio Guterres urged the international community to reject hunger as a weapon of war.
"Climate change is disrupting harvests, supply chains, and humanitarian aid. Conflict continues to spread hunger from Gaza to Sudan and beyond," he told a UN conference in Ethiopia by video. "Hunger fuels instability and undermines peace. We must never accept hunger as a weapon of war."
Separately, Israel, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates have conducted parachute air drops of smaller quantities of aid.
More than two million Palestinians live in Gaza and, before the eruption of the latest 21-month-old conflict between Israel and Hamas, it took roughly 500 trucks per day of commercial trade and humanitarian aid to supply the territory.
In recent weeks UN agencies have been warning of a life-threatening famine as aid supplies dry up, and international pressure has been building for a ceasefire to allow a massive relief operation.
Israel's government, under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, furiously denies that it is using hunger as a weapon of war, and instead accuses the aid agencies of failing to pick up and distribute aid delivered to Gaza's border crossing points.
"More consistent collection and distribution by UN agencies and international organisations equals more aid reaching those who need it most in Gaza," Cogat said. (AFP)
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