Israel opens new humanitarian aid route into northern Gaza to circumvent Hamas terrorists
A new land route has been opened by Israel which will allow the United Nations to increase the flow of aid to the civilian population in the northern Gaza Strip and circumvent Hamas operatives.
The terror organization Hamas has systematically disrupted and stolen international humanitarian aid deliveries intended for civilians in Gaza over the past several months.
The humanitarian aid reached Gaza City early Tuesday morning via the new Israeli land route and the food delivery alone can reportedly feed about 25,000 Gazans. According to reports, Tuesday was the first time in three weeks that UN-affiliated personnel has delivered food to northern Gaza.
While the majority of Gaza’s approximately two million residents are concentrated in southern Gaza, near the city Rafah, a few hundred thousand allegedly remain in the northern part of the coastal enclave, where most of the fighting has subsided.
UN World Food Programme (WFP) spokesperson Shaza Moghraby hopes there will be an increase in deliveries to northern Gaza.
"We are hoping to scale up, we need access to be regular and consistent, especially with people in northern Gaza on the brink of famine," Moghraby claimed. "We need entry points directly to the north."
The United Nations claims that around 25% of Gaza’s over two million people are facing potential famine.
The U.S. Biden administration recently announced its plans to construct a temporary naval dock in Gaza to further facilitate the delivery of crucial humanitarian aid into the Strip. An unnamed U.S. official said the naval route and port would enable “hundreds of additional truckloads of assistance each day” to be delivered into Gaza.
While the U.S. is cooperating with Israel on the humanitarian aid issue, a U.S. official said Washington will move forward with the construction of the naval port.
“We’re not waiting on the Israelis. This is a moment for American leadership, and we are building a coalition of countries to address this urgent need,” the official stated.
Some international pundits blame the current humanitarian crisis in Gaza on Israel, despite well-documented evidence that Hamas is deliberately undermining humanitarian aid deliveries.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog criticized the United Nations in December for the insufficient humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza.
“Unfortunately, due to the utter failure of the UN in its work with other partners in the region, they have been unable to bring in more than 125 trucks [of aid] a day,” Herzog stated.
“Today it is possible to provide three times the amount of humanitarian aid to Gaza if the UN – instead of complaining all day – would do its job,” the Israeli president added.
By late February, Israel had facilitated the delivery of some 14,000 trucks with humanitarian aid into Gaza since the war broke out on Oct. 7.
While Israel has allowed substantial aid to flow into Gaza, there remains a concerning lack of information regarding the well-being of more than 100 hostages held by terrorists and are still reportedly alive.
The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.