12/17/2023–|Last updated: 12/17/202311:59 PM (Mecca time)
Officials said that the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip was opened – today, Sunday – to aid trucks for the first time since the start of the Israeli aggression, in a move aimed at increasing food and medicine shipments reaching the besieged Strip.
The Israeli government coordination unit in the Palestinian territories said in a statement, “Starting today, United Nations aid trucks will undergo security checks and will be transported directly to Gaza via Kerem Shalom, in compliance with our agreement with the United States.” In response to a question about whether the aid crossed into Gaza, an Israeli official said yes.
A Palestinian border official confirmed the reopening of Kerem Shalom – earlier today – in coordination with Israel and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
Two Egyptian Red Crescent sources told Reuters that trucks began entering today through the Kerem Shalom crossing on their way to Gaza. One of them said that the number of trucks was 79 trucks.
For its part, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said – earlier – that this would allow Israel to fulfill its obligations to allow the entry of 200 aid trucks daily, as stipulated in the detainee exchange agreement that was reached and implemented last month.
Israel has already agreed to allow inspection of trucks at the Kerem Shalom crossing, but these trucks previously had to return to Rafah to cross into Gaza from Egypt. Relief groups were demanding that trucks be allowed to enter directly.
The sky is filled with air strikes
In a statement to Reuters, Colonel Elad Goren, head of the civilian department in the Israeli government coordination unit in the occupied territories, said that aid may not reach the residents of Gaza. He added that relief agencies in Gaza did not enhance their capabilities to distribute aid to meet the increasing demand due to the influx of Gazans into the southern Strip based on Israeli demands.
Juliette Touma, Director of Communications at UNRWA, responded today on the X social media platform, “You cannot deliver aid under a sky full of air strikes.”
The crossing was closed after the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation on October 7, and aid was only allowed to be delivered through the Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt, through which Israel says only 100 trucks can enter daily.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza has deteriorated as Israel intensifies its military campaign in the besieged Strip, with the United Nations and other international bodies warning of severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.
“Kerem Shalom” – which is located on the border between Egypt, Israel and Gaza – represents one of the main crossing points for goods heading to and departing from the Gaza Strip, as it allows trucks to cross much faster than the Rafah crossing, which is mainly intended for travelers, which is a few kilometers away.
Israel approved the entry of aid last week.
