First few aid trucks enter Gaza but allies threaten Israel with sanctions and urge more
World
Fletcher said an additional four U.N. trucks were cleared to enter Gaza.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The first few aid trucks entered Gaza on Monday following nearly three months of Israel’s blockade of food, medicine and other supplies, Israel and the United Nations said, as Israel acknowledged growing pressure from allies including the United States.
Five trucks carrying baby food and other desperately needed aid entered the territory of over 2 million Palestinians via the Kerem Shalom crossing, according to the Israeli defense body in charge of coordinating aid to Gaza, COGAT.
The U.N. humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, called it a “welcome development” but described the trucks as a “drop in the ocean of what is urgently needed.” Food security experts last week warned of famine in Gaza. During the latest ceasefire that Israel ended in March, some 600 aid trucks entered Gaza each day.
Fletcher said an additional four U.N. trucks were cleared to enter Gaza. Those trucks may enter Tuesday, COGAT said. Fletcher added that given the chaotic situation on the ground, the U.N. expects the aid could be looted or stolen, a growing problem as resources became increasingly scarce.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his decision to resume “minimal” aid to Gaza came after allies said they couldn’t support Israel’s new military offensive if there are “images of hunger” coming from the Palestinian territory.
Shortly after Israel announced the first trucks entered Gaza, the U.K., France and Canada issued a sharply worded joint statement calling the aid “wholly inadequate.” They threatened “concrete actions” against Israel, including sanctions, for its activities in Gaza and the occupied West Bank and called on Israel to stop its “egregious” new military actions in Gaza.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the joint statement and called it “a huge prize for the genocidal attack on Israel on October 7.”
Israel over the weekend launched a new wave of air and ground operations across Gaza, and the army ordered the evacuation of its second-largest city, Khan Younis, where a massive operation earlier in the 19-month war left much of the area in ruins.
Israel says it is pressuring Hamas to release the remaining hostages abducted in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war. Hamas has said it will only release them in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal.
Netanyahu repeated Monday that Israel plans on “taking control of all of Gaza.” He has said Israel will encourage what he describes as the voluntary emigration of much of Gaza’s population to other countries — something that Palestinians have rejected.
