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Indian Express
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
UN confirms 90 aid trucks entered Gaza after three-day delay
The United Nations confirmed on Thursday that over 90 lorry loads of humanitarian aid—including flour, baby food, and medical equipment—had entered Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing. The deliveries, collected Wednesday night, marked the first major convoy to move after a three-day delay attributed to security concerns. The aid distribution began promptly, with several bakeries restarting operations using newly delivered flour. The delay followed an 11-week-long blockade, partially lifted by Israel earlier in the week. Despite the breakthrough, UN officials warned that the supplies delivered fall far short of Gaza's urgent needs. 'This is nowhere near enough to meet the vast needs in Gaza,' said a UN spokesperson. Prior to the conflict, Gaza received an average of 500 aid trucks per day. The UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) estimates that half a million Gazans are at risk of starvation. The Palestinian Authority's Health Minister, Majed Abu Ramadan, told Reuters that at least 29 children and elderly people have recently died from 'starvation-related' causes. The World Food Programme (WFP) said over 140,000 tonnes of food—equivalent to 6,000 truckloads—are currently ready to be delivered. This could feed the entire population for two months, a WFP official told the BBC. However, delivery remains constrained by security risks and limited access. Antoine Renard, a WFP official, explained that the only approved route into Gaza places aid workers at risk of attack. 'Each truck full of flour is worth about $400,000 at current market prices inside Gaza,' he said. The WFP avoids using armed escorts and is urging for a longer aid window and ceasefire to ensure safe passage. Israel has defended its aid restrictions, accusing Hamas of diverting supplies. On Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated these claims and announced that Israel, with US support, plans to bypass the UN by using American firms to deliver aid directly. Netanyahu said construction of the first distribution sites is underway. Humanitarian organisations, including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), have rejected the plan, warning it risks politicizing aid and breaching humanitarian principles. 'A trickle of trucks is woefully inadequate,' the ICRC said. Israeli airstrikes and ground operations continued across Gaza. The Hamas-run health ministry reported 107 deaths in the past 24 hours. More than 81% of Gaza is now designated an evacuation or militarized zone, the UN estimates. Nearly 600,000 people have been displaced since March, with 161,000 of them fleeing in just the past week. The current conflict began after Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. Israel's retaliatory campaign has since killed at least 53,762 people in Gaza, including more than 16,500 children, according to Gaza's health ministry. (With inputs from BBC)
Middle East Eye
22-05-2025
- Health
- Middle East Eye
Israel using limited Gaza aid as 'smokescreen' to continue siege, says MSF
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has accused Israel of allowing only a limited amount of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip as 'a smokescreen to pretend the siege is over'. 'As people remain in desperate need of medical care and assistance, Israeli authorities must stop the deliberate asphyxiation of Gaza and the annihilation of its healthcare system, which is underpinning their campaign of ethnic cleansing,' MSF said in a statement on Tuesday. While Israeli authorities claimed that 100 aid trucks entered the besieged enclave on Wednesday, Reuters reported that aid officials and local sources said supplies had not reached Gaza's soup kitchens, bakeries, markets, or hospitals. 'None of this aid - which is a very limited number of trucks - has reached the Gaza population,' said Antoine Renard, country director for the World Food Programme. Renard added that thousands of tonnes of food and other essentials are currently waiting near the crossing points into Gaza. However, without proper distribution, approximately a quarter of the population remains at risk of famine. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Pascale Coissard, MSF's emergency coordinator in Khan Younis, said the decision to allow in such small amounts of aid after months of a total siege signals Israel's 'intention to avoid accusations of starving people in Gaza, while in fact keeping them barely surviving'. 'This plan is a way to instrumentalise aid, turning it into a tool to advance Israeli military objectives,' Coissard added. UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said the delay was due to Israeli requirements, which are complicating the entry of the limited number of aid trucks. The process involves offloading supplies on the Palestinian side and reloading them separately once UN access within Gaza is secured. Palestinians across Gaza are experiencing worsening conditions and say the promises of aid are nothing more than media illusions. According to UN estimates, at least 600 lorries per day are required to begin addressing Gaza's severe humanitarian crisis. Dujarric said while the arrival of aid was a positive sign, it was "a drop in the ocean" compared to what is needed. 'Annihilation of Gaza' Amid a severe shortage of aid, the Israeli military has intensified its attacks on civilians, aid distribution points, healthcare facilities and shelters. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Israel's ongoing assault on Gaza has killed 53,762 people since 7 October 2023, including more than 16,500 children. MSF reported that at 6am on 19 May alone, its teams in Khan Younis heard one air strike every minute, including one that hit the grounds of Nasser Hospital. International law explained: What are genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity? Read More » 'Evacuation orders continue to uproot the population, while Israeli forces persist in their heavy attacks on health facilities,' the medical humanitarian organisation said. The Global Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) Cluster estimates that more than 138,900 people were forcibly displaced in just five days, between 15 and 20 May. 'This marks a further escalation since the breakdown of the ceasefire on 18 March 2025,' the CCCM said in its latest update. MSF warned that expanded military operations and expulsion orders have made it increasingly difficult for Gaza's population to access medical care. It added that sustained attacks on civilians and healthcare infrastructure have severely crippled its ability to respond. Medical supplies are also critically low due to the ongoing siege and bombardment. 'Attacks on civilians and healthcare must stop immediately, and aid must be allowed into Gaza in sufficient quantities and in a manner that ensures it reaches those in need,' MSF stated. 'Israel's allies must apply all possible pressure to make this happen as a matter of utmost urgency. Every day that passes deepens their complicity in the annihilation of the people of Gaza.'
Saudi Gazette
22-05-2025
- General
- Saudi Gazette
UN says 90 truckloads of aid now in Gaza after three-day delay at crossing
GAZA — More than 90 truckloads of humanitarian aid have been collected by UN teams inside the Gaza Strip, three days after Israel eased an 11-week-long blockade. The aid, which included flour, baby food and medical equipment, was picked up from the Kerem Shalom crossing on Wednesday night and taken to warehouses for distribution. Pictures showed a bakery producing bread with some of the flour. The UN said the delays were due to insecurity along the single access route which the Israeli military had approved. Israeli authorities said they allowed an additional 100 lorry loads through Kerem Shalom on Wednesday. However, the UN said it was "nowhere near enough to meet the vast needs in Gaza". Humanitarian organizations have warned of acute levels of hunger among the 2.1 million population , as well as a higher proportion of children diagnosed with acute malnutrition, amid significant shortages of basic foods and skyrocketing prices. An assessment by the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) has also said half a million people face starvation in the coming months. Gaza health system 'stretched beyond breaking point' by Israeli offensive and evacuations, WHO warns On Wednesday night, a UN spokesperson announced it had "collected around 90 truckloads of goods from the Kerem Shalom crossing and dispatched them into Gaza". A video shared with the BBC showed the lorries with aid collected from Kerem Shalom driving in a convoy along a road in southern Gaza. Other footage showed bags of flour being unloaded at a bakery and hundreds of pitta breads rolling out of its ovens on conveyor belts. Before the operation, senior World Food Programme (WFP) official Antoine Renard told the BBC that the problems with collecting the aid arose because the Israeli military wanted lorries to move along a route in Gaza which aid agencies considered to be dangerous. The route, he said, could leave them at risk of attack by desperately hungry civilians and armed criminal gangs. "At market prices in Gaza right now, each truck full of flour is worth around $400,000 (£298,000)," Renard explained. He added that the solution would be "hundreds of trucks daily" traveling along a safe route to warehouses, noting "the less we provide, the greater the risk and more anxiety created" among the population. Renard said aid agencies on the Gaza side did not employ armed guards to accompany their cargoes because it was considered too dangerous, so a lengthy ceasefire and an extension of the current five-day window for the transfer of food was urgently needed. Israel stopped all deliveries of aid and commercial supplies to Gaza on 2 March and resumed its military offensive two weeks later, ending a two-month ceasefire with Hamas. It said the steps were meant to put pressure on the armed group to release the 58 hostages still held in Gaza, up to 23 of whom are believed to be alive. Israel also insisted there was no shortage of aid and accused Hamas of stealing supplies to give to its fighters or sell to raise money - an allegation the group denied. The UN also denied that aid had been diverted and said Israel was obliged under international humanitarian law to ensure food and medicine reached Gaza's population. On Wednesday, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was allowing a limited amount of food into Gaza so that the Israeli military could continue its newly expanded ground offensive and take full control of the Palestinian territory. "We must avoid a humanitarian crisis in order to preserve our freedom of operational action," he told a news conference. Netanyahu also said the controversial US-Israeli plan for aid in Gaza - which would bypass existing UN facilities and use a private company to distribute food from hubs in southern and central Gaza protected by security contractors and Israeli troops - would give Israel "another tool to win the war". UN and other agencies have said they will not cooperate with the plan, saying it contradicts fundamental humanitarian principles and appears to "weaponize aid". The WFP has also warned it will force 2.1 million people to travel long distances for food. "This plan is not a solution, it's a political decision," Renard said. "The food should go to the people, not the people to the food." Meanwhile, Israeli bombardment and ground operations are continuing across Gaza, with the Hamas-run health ministry reporting on Wednesday that 82 people were killed over the previous 24 hours. According to the UN, about 81% of the territory us now either subject to Israeli evacuation orders or located in militarized "no-go" zones. Almost 600,000 people are estimated to have been displaced again since March, including 161,000 who have been forced to flee in the past week. Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response Hamas's cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. At least 53,655 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's health ministry. — BBC
USA Today
22-05-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Aid trucks enter Gaza after delays, as pressure mounts on Israel
Aid trucks enter Gaza after delays, as pressure mounts on Israel CAIRO/JERUSALEM, May 21 (Reuters) - Israel allowed 100 aid trucks carrying flour, baby food and medical equipment into the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, the Israeli military said, as UN officials reported that distribution issues had meant that no aid had so far reached people in need. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would be open to a temporary ceasefire to enable the return of hostages. But otherwise he said it would press ahead with a military campaign to gain total control of Gaza. After an 11-week blockade on supplies entering Gaza, the Israeli military said a total of 98 aid trucks entered on Monday and Tuesday. But even those minimal supplies have not made it to Gaza's soup kitchens, bakeries, markets and hospitals, according to aid officials and local bakeries that were standing by to receive supplies of flour. "None of this aid - that is a very limited number of trucks - has reached the Gaza population," said Antoine Renard, country director of the World Food Programme. More: Pope Leo appeals for Israel to allow humanitarian aid in Gaza The blockade has left Gazans in an increasingly desperate struggle for survival, despite growing international and domestic pressure on Israel's government, which one opposition figure said risked turning the country into a "pariah state". Thousands of tons of food and other vital supplies are waiting near crossing points into Gaza but until it can be safely distributed, around a quarter of the population remains at risk of famine, Renard said. "I'm here since eight in the morning, just to get one plate for six people while it is not enough for one person," said Mahmoud al-Haw, who says he often waits for up to six hours a day hoping for some lentil soup to keep his children alive. U.N. officials said security issues had prevented the aid from moving out of the logistics hub at the Kerem Shalom crossing point but late on Wednesday there appeared some hope that supplies would move more freely. Nahid Shahaiber, a major transport company owner, said 75 trucks of flour and over a dozen more carrying nutritional supplements and sugar were inside the southern area of Rafah and witnesses said trucks carrying flour had been seen in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. Israel imposed a blockade on all supplies entering Gaza in March, saying Hamas was seizing supplies meant for civilians - a charge the group denies. Under mounting international pressure, it has allowed aid deliveries by the U.N. and other aid groups to resume briefly until a new U.S.-backed distribution model using private contractors operating through so-called secure hubs is up and running by the end of the month. But the United Nations says the plan is not impartial or neutral, and it will not be involved. 'PARIAH STATE' As people waited for supplies to arrive, air strikes and tank fire killed at least 50 people across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, Palestinian health authorities said. The Israeli military said air strikes hit 115 targets, which it said included rocket launchers, tunnels and unspecified military infrastructure. Efforts to halt the fighting have faltered, with both Hamas, which insists on a final end to the war and withdrawal of Israeli forces, and Israel, which says Hamas must disarm and leave Gaza, sticking to positions the other side rejects. Netanyahu said an Israeli air strike this month had probably killed Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar and he reiterated his demand for the complete demilitarization of Gaza and the exile of Hamas leaders for the war to end. More: Israel kills 20 Palestinians in airstrikes after agreeing to let some aid into Gaza The resumption of the assault on Gaza since March, following a two-month ceasefire, has drawn condemnation from countries including Britain and Canada that have long been cautious about expressing open criticism of Israel. Even the United States, the country's most important ally, has shown signs of losing patience with Netanyahu. Netanyahu said it was "a disgrace" that countries like Britain were sanctioning Israel instead of Hamas. There has been growing unease within Israel meanwhile at the continuation of the war while 58 hostages remain in Gaza. Left-wing opposition leader Yair Golan drew a furious response from the government and its supporters this week when he declared that "A sane country doesn't kill babies as a hobby" and said Israel risked becoming a "pariah state among the nations." Golan, a former deputy commander of the Israeli military who went single-handedly to rescue victims of the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct 7, 2023, leads the left-wing Democrats, a small party with little electoral clout. But his words, and similar comments by former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in an interview with the BBC, underscored the rift within Israel. Netanyahu dismissed the criticism, saying he was "appalled" by Golan's comments. Opinion polls show widespread support for a ceasefire that would include the return of all the hostages, with a survey from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem this week showing 70% in favour of a deal. But hardliners in the cabinet, some of whom argue for the complete expulsion of all Palestinians from Gaza, have insisted on continuing the war until "final victory", which would include disarming Hamas as well as the return of the hostages. Netanyahu, trailing in the opinion polls and facing trial at home on corruption charges, which he denies, as well as an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court, has so far sided with the hardliners. Israel launched its campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, which killed some 1,200 people by Israeli tallies and saw 251 hostages abducted into Gaza. The campaign has killed more than 53,600 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, and devastated the coastal strip, where aid groups say signs of severe malnutrition are widespread. (Writing by James Mackenzie; editing by Philippa Fletcher and Tomasz Janowski)
TimesLIVE
22-05-2025
- Politics
- TimesLIVE
Aid trucks enter Gaza after delays, as pressure mounts on Israel
Israel allowed 100 aid trucks carrying flour, baby food and medical equipment into the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, the Israeli military said, as UN officials reported that distribution issues had meant that no aid had so far reached people in need. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would be open to a temporary ceasefire to enable the return of hostages. But otherwise he said it would press ahead with a military campaign to gain total control of Gaza. After an 11-week blockade on supplies entering Gaza, the Israeli military said a total of 98 aid trucks entered on Monday and Tuesday. But even those minimal supplies have not made it to Gaza's soup kitchens, bakeries, markets and hospitals, according to aid officials and local bakeries that were standing by to receive supplies of flour. 'None of this aid — that is a very limited number of trucks — has reached the Gaza population,' said Antoine Renard, country director of the World Food Programme. The blockade has left Gazans in an increasingly desperate struggle for survival, despite growing international and domestic pressure on Israel's government, which one opposition figure said risked turning the country into a 'pariah state'. Thousands of tonnes of food and other vital supplies are waiting near crossing points into Gaza but until it can be safely distributed, around a quarter of the population remains at risk of famine, Renard said.
