The United Nations reports the utilization of a new land route to deliver food to northern Gaza, marking the first such delivery in three weeks.
According to the Israeli military, six trucks from the World Food Programme crossed through a gate in the Gaza border fence for Tuesday night’s delivery. The military specified that this initiative is part of a pilot program aimed at preventing Hamas from seizing control of the aid.
This development occurs amidst mounting global pressure on Israel to increase access to aid in Palestinian territories, particularly amid concerns of an impending famine exacerbated by the ongoing conflict with Hamas.
In addition to land routes, a charitable organization dispatched a boat carrying 200 tonnes of food aid from Cyprus on Tuesday. This voyage inaugurates a new maritime corridor into Palestinian territory, with the vessel expected to arrive near Gaza on Thursday.
Although road access remains the most expeditious means of delivering urgently needed supplies, the UN noted that the WFP convoy successfully utilized an Israeli military road along the Gaza border fence to reach the northern region, providing enough food to support 25,000 individuals in Gaza City.
Israeli security officials carried out a prior security check on the aid lorries at the Kerem Shalom crossing with southern Gaza, according to the military.
The UN says at least 576,000 people in Gaza – one quarter of the population – are one step away from famine.
It warns that time is running out for the estimated 300,000 people who are isolated in the north of the territory, which UN agencies have struggled to access for several months due to Israeli restrictions, the ongoing hostilities and a breakdown of law and order.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says at least 27 people, most of them children, have died as a result of malnutrition and dehydration at hospitals there.
Israel insists there are no limits to the amount of aid that can be delivered into and across Gaza and blames UN agencies for failing to distribute the aid to the people who need it.
As Gaza’s humanitarian crisis deepens, Qatari and Egyptian mediators say they are continuing to push for a truce between Israel and Hamas.
The war began when Hamas gunmen attacked southern Israel on 7 October, killing about 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages. More than 31,100 people have been killed in Gaza since then, the Hamas-run health ministry says.
