GAZA — Israeli settlers gathered on Friday at the road leading to the Karm Abu Salem crossing to block the entry of much-needed humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. One of them placed a baby stroller in front of an aid truck.
Following two years of Israeli genocide and a blockade on humanitarian aid, a ceasefire took effect in Gaza on Friday, calling for the flow of aid into the Palestinian enclave.
Aid agencies, however, said a major ramp-up of aid needed to ease famine and suffering in Gaza after two years of war has yet to happen.
“We need all crossings open. The longer Rafah stays closed the more the suffering prolongs for people in Gaza, especially those displaced in the South,” UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires said on Tuesday.
All of the aid so far has been through the south and central crossing of Kissufim, US agencies said, with those at the epicentre of the humanitarian crisis in northern Gaza, to where tens of thousands of people are returning after being forcibly displaced, still shut.
“The shift has not yet happened. We are still witnessing only few trucks coming in, and large crowds approaching these trucks in a way that does absolutely not conform to humanitarian standards,” ICRC spokesperson Christian Cardon told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday.
Israel has been accused of blocking life-saving aid and using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza. — QNN
