JERUSALEM: Despite Tel Aviv’s assertions that it has opened a second gate into the besieged area on the day of a US deadline to increase humanitarian deliveries, aid organizations criticized Israel for still blocking aid deliveries to Gaza.
Last month, the United States threatened to reduce its military assistance to Israel unless it improved the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
The Israeli military claimed to have opened the Kissufim crossing “as part of the effort and commitment to increase the volume and routes of aid” to Gaza one day prior to the deadline.
However, as the situation in the besieged north gets even more “catastrophic,” the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) and eight humanitarian organizations warned Israel was still not doing enough to bring aid in.
Tel Aviv says it has opened a new border crossing on the eve of the US deadline to bring relief supplies back to Gaza.
Israel “failed to comply” with US demands, according to the eight organizations, which included Oxfam and Save the Children, “at enormous human cost for Palestinian civilians in Gaza.”
In a united statement, they declared, “The humanitarian situation in Gaza is now at its worst point since the war began in October 2023.”
UNRWA emergency officer Louise Wateridge emphasized that “aid entering the Gaza Strip is at its lowest level in months” when asked if there were indications the situation has improved ahead of Wednesday’s deadline.
Wateridge added that UN requests to enter the region have been turned down time and time again, and that for a whole month, no food was allowed to reach the besieged northern part of Gaza.
Testimonies from the north, according to Wateridge, presented “an endlessly horrific” image that was growing “more critical” by the moment.
Doctors tell us that hospitals have been bombarded and that they are short of medicine and blood supplies. The streets are littered with bodies.
Israelis were blocking help from arriving through the crossings, a Norwegian Refugee Council representative told Al Jazeera separately.
“Aid is arbitrarily denied, and basic supplies—such as lumber to help people construct shelters for the winter—are prohibited from entering.” The NRC’s communications adviser, Shaina Low, told Al Jazeera that requests to enter such crossings are occasionally turned down for more than a month.
Aid workers are required to ask for secure routes to distribute the aid once it has entered Gaza.
According to Low, “Israel frequently rejects requests to relocate in order to reach Palestinian families who are in dire need.”
On Tuesday, however, the US State Department urged for more progress while stating that Israel was not breaking US law over the amount of supplies entering Gaza.
State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel responded, “We have not made an assessment that they are in violation of US law,” when asked if Israel has complied with US demands. However, he also noted that “the overall humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to be unsatisfactory.”
He stated that Tel Aviv was making progress in the correct direction, adding, “But in the context of the letter, it’s not about whether we find something satisfactory or not; it’s what are the actions that we’re seeing.”
Gaza attacks
According to Gaza’s civil defense service, Israeli attacks on Tuesday killed at least 14 individuals.
Israeli tanks, according to locals, moved farther into Beit Hanoun on Tuesday, besieging four displaced families before directing them to evacuate in the direction of Gaza City.
At least 43,665 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in more than 13 months, the health ministry announced Tuesday.
