Israel says aid deliveries enter Gaza for fourth consecutive day
Humanitarian aid has entered the Gaza Strip for a fourth consecutive day, as Israeli authorities face mounting pressure to ease the catastrophic conditions for Palestinians there.
The Israeli military body COGAT said 220 aid trucks crossed into the sealed-off coastal strip on Wednesday and were awaiting distribution.
More than 200 truckloads had entered Gaza on Tuesday, where they were handed over to the United Nations and other aid organizations for distribution.
On Sunday, Israel permitted large-scale aid deliveries for the first time in months. Since then, an average of about 200 trucks per day have entered Gaza — a significant increase, but still far below what humanitarian groups say is needed.
According to the UN, the current volume of aid meets less than half the needs of a population that international experts warn is facing famine. Before Israel tightened its blockade in March, around 500 trucks were entering Gaza daily.
The leading international authority on food crises warned on Tuesday that “the worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip.”
The report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification said that residents of the Palestinian territory have seen access to food services plummet to “unprecedented levels.”
Palestinians collect food aid from the US humanitarian aid distribution centre in Rafah. Severe shortages of food and water in the sealed-off Palestinian territory have prompted warnings from UN agencies of “catastrophic hunger” and the risk of imminent famine. Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa