JERUSALEM/CAIRO: The Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza opened on Sunday (Dec 17) for aid trucks for the first time since the outbreak of the war, officials said, a move intended to double the amount of food and medicine reaching the enclave.
The crossing had been closed after an Oct 7 attack by Hamas and aid was being delivered solely through Gaza’s Rafah crossing with Egypt, which Israel said could only accommodate the entry of 100 trucks per day.
Two sources in the Egypt Red Crescent told Reuters that trucks were starting to enter on Sunday through the Kerem Shalom crossing on their way into Gaza. One said there were 79 trucks.
Kerem Shalom, on the border of Egypt, Israel and Gaza, is one of the main transit points for goods in and out of Gaza, allowing much faster transit than the Rafah passenger crossing a few kilometres away.
Israel approved the entry of aid last week.
“Starting today (Dec 17), UN aid trucks will undergo security checks and be transferred directly to Gaza via Kerem Shalom, to abide by our agreement with the US,” COGAT, the branch of military which coordinated humanitarian aid with the Palestinian territories, said in a statement.
The prime minister’s office has previously said this would allow Israel to maintain its commitments to permit the entry of 200 trucks of aid per day, agreed upon in a hostage deal brokered and implemented last month.
Asked if aid had crossed into Gaza, an Israeli official said yes.
Israel had already agreed to allow trucks to be inspected at Kerem Shalom but the trucks had previously been obliged to return to Rafah, to cross into Gaza from Egypt and aid groups had been calling for them to be allowed in directly.
The aid may not reach Gazans, Colonel Elad Goren, head of the civil department at COGAT told Reuters, saying humanitarian agencies in Gaza had not increased their capacity to distribute aid to meet the demand from the influx of Gazans who have fled to the south of the enclave on Israeli advice.
“If the UN won’t have the capacity to collect and to distribute, it doesn’t matter how many crossings we will open,” Goren said. “They cannot rely upon the same mechanism they had before the war.
“We adjusted ourselves,” Goren said. “The UN unfortunately didn’t.”
Relevant UN agencies were not immediately available for comment.
As Israel’s campaign in Gaza has gathered pace, the humanitarian situation in the besieged enclave has worsened dramatically with the United Nations and other world bodies warning of severe shortages of food, clean water and medicines.
EGYPTIAN SOURCES: ISRAEL, HAMAS OPEN TO TRUCE
Two Egyptian security sources said on Sunday that Israel and Hamas are both open to a renewed ceasefire and hostage release, although disagreements remain on how it would be implemented.
Egypt and Qatar, which had previously negotiated a week-long ceasefire and hostage release, insisted on expediting aid and the opening of the Kerem Shalom crossing before any negotiations could begin, the sources said.
While the crossing was open, they said that aid was being delayed by inspections and had still not entered Egypt.
Hopes for peace were raised on Saturday when a source said Israel’s spy chief had spoken on Friday with Qatar’s prime minister.
Hamas is insisting on setting the list of hostages to be released unilaterally, and demanding that Israeli forces withdraw behind pre-determined lines, the sources told Reuters.
While Israel agreed on Hamas setting the list, the sources said it demanded a timeline and to see the list before setting the time and duration of the ceasefire.
Israel refuses to withdraw, the sources added.
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