Trucks carrying desperately needed humanitarian aid have begun arriving in Gaza using a temporary dock provided by the United States, the US military announced Friday.
Aid trucks began entering Gaza around 9 a.m. local time (2 a.m. ET), U.S. Central Command said in a statement. job on X.
“No US troops have landed in Gaza,” CENTCOM said. “This is an ongoing multinational effort to provide additional assistance to Palestinian civilians in Gaza via a maritime corridor that is entirely humanitarian in nature,” the text adds, noting that aid is being provided by a number of countries and humanitarian organizations.
This is less than a day after the United States successfully towed its floating dock system to the shores of the Palestinian enclave, where the Israeli military assault has closed a number of crucial crossing points for provision of food, fuel and other aid.
The Rafah crossing, Gaza’s main aid entry point, has been closed for almost two weeks after Israeli forces seized the Palestinian side of the crossing in a ground attack that saw them to move deeper into eastern Rafah and force hundreds of thousands of people into it. Palestinians to evacuate the city that Israel once considered a “safe zone”.
The Biden administration has expressed growing frustration with Israeli operations in Rafah, warning it would suspend shipments of some weapons if the US ally carries out a full-scale invasion of the city without a plan to ensure civilian safety .
The nearby Kerem Shalom crossing – where four Israeli soldiers were killed in a recent Hamas attack – was also closed, but the Israeli military said it had since opened, along with an entry point separated, the “Erez West” passage.
Yet aid groups have sounded the alarm over the limited flow of aid to Gaza in recent days.
The United Nations thanked the United States for its efforts on Thursday, but also warned that the flow of aid to Gaza cannot depend on the temporary jetty.
Speaking at a daily press briefing, UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said land routes remain the most efficient way to deliver aid to Gaza, “which is why we need all crossing points open,” and appeared to express concerns about the security of humanitarian transport. workers transferring and distributing aid using the new pier.
State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel stressed at a news conference Thursday that the U.S. pier was meant to “add to other routes” facilitating the entry of aid into Gaza.
“Although this is a new assistance mechanism for Gaza, of course more needs to be done,” he said. “Humanitarian conditions on the ground continue to deteriorate and vital border crossings have been closed at a time when more aid is essential. »
Vedant said the United States would continue to pressure Israel and other partners in the region to ensure the safety of aid workers and ensure that “aid can get where it needs to go.”
Israel has placed responsibility for delays in reopening the Rafah crossing on Egypt, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu telling CNBC’s Sara Eisen on Wednesday, “we want to see it open.” Egypt said Israel was clearly responsible for keeping the crossing closed since its takeover from the Palestinian side.
The construction of the US pier comes as the UN humanitarian chief warned that famine had become an immediate risk in Gaza as food dwindled in the enclave.
“Food stocks that were already in place in southern Gaza are running out. I think there are almost none left,” Martin Griffiths, the under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, told Reuters in an interview in Geneva.
Vedant said Thursday that the United States was “deeply concerned by reports of worsening conditions and imminent famine in Gaza.”
“Israel must do more to urgently provide sustainable and unhindered access to humanitarian assistance in northern and southern Gaza,” he said.
News Source : www.nbcnews.com
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