Agreement to surge aid to Gaza shows Israel has been controlling access, lawyers and humanitarian groups say
The deal agreed this week allows for 600 trucks a day of aid to enter Gaza, where nine out of 10 Palestinians are going hungry and experts say famine is imminent in areas.The deal agreed this week allows for 600 trucks a day of aid to enter Gaza, where nine out of 10 Palestinians are going hungry and experts say famine is imminent in areas.could have allowed more food, medicine and other supplies into the strip during the war, humanitarian and legal experts have said.
The new aid shipments will be divided across Gaza, with about 300 trucks going to the north, 250 to the south, and 50 trucks of fuel divided between the two areas for transportation and basic infrastructure needs, sources told the Guardian. Still, provisions under the deal are far from enough. Before the war, when Gaza had a functioning economy and farms supplying fresh produce, about 500 trucks entered daily. Over 15 months of fighting, shipments never approached that level. In recent months, UN figures showed just a few dozen trucks entering.
Itamar Mann, an associate professor of law at the University of Haifa, said this was “not a credible argument” even before the ceasefire, and the deal could be evidence of a war crime. Changes expected to smooth the aid surge include lifting limits on how much cash humanitarians can take into Gaza and opening two border crossings into the north simultaneously.
A corridor controlled by Israeli forces bisects the strip. If people are not allowed to cross this to return home – or to where their homes once stood – the aid supplies may be separated from much of the population.“This bill should not be implemented,” Touma said. “Unrwa is the largest humanitarian organisation in Gaza and the world is going to need us to do this.”
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