An Egyptian Red Crescent official said that a convoy of 80 aid trucks destined for the Gaza Strip was sent from Egypt to the Kerem Shalom crossing for inspection yesterday, Tuesday, after the start of a new inspection system in an effort to speed up the delivery of relief materials.
Since the start of aid deliveries on October 20, trucks entering Gaza from Egypt have had to pass south from Rafah to undergo inspection at the Al-Awja (Nitsana) crossing on the Egyptian border with Israel, a process that has caused bottlenecks and delays.
Relief officials say that using the Kerem Shalom crossing, located on the border between Israel, Gaza and Egypt, about 3 kilometers from the Rafah crossing, would allow more trucks to be handled, including some trucks that will come from Jordan for the first time since the start of the war on Gaza.
As the humanitarian situation in Gaza worsens, the United Nations is pressuring Israel to allow trucks to enter the Strip directly from the Kerem Shalom crossing, saying this will make a difference.
Diplomats say that Israel, which fears that the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) will benefit from the entry of these supplies, has so far refused to take such a step.
The head of the Red Crescent branch in North Sinai, Egypt, Khaled Zayed, said that the trucks sent to Kerem Shalom – yesterday, Tuesday – included medicines, medical supplies, food, drinking water, and baby formula.
Zayed added that 100 other trucks were sent to the Al-Awja crossing (Nitsana).
Since the collapse of the temporary truce on December 1, the number of aid trucks entering Gaza daily has decreased to about 100. According to the United Nations, approximately 500 trucks were entering the Strip daily before the start of the aggression, 60% of which pass through the Kerem Shalom crossing. .
