The Israeli defence forces announced on Sunday their plan to temporarily halt military operations daily in certain sections of southern Gaza, in order to allow for increased aid distribution in the region. International aid organisations have recently voiced concerns over a mounting humanitarian crisis in the area.
The scheduled pause in military actions will commence at 8am and end at 7pm local time. This suspension will apply to an area spanning from Rafah city or the Kerem Shalom crossing in the south, up to the fringes of Khan Younis city, said a public statement.
According to the Israeli army, this cessation will continue indefinitely and will facilitate the transportation of aid trucks to the Kerem Shalom crossing. The suspension has been organised in collaboration with the United Nations and various international aid agencies.
The Kerem Shalom crossing, under Israeli management and being a chief point of entry for incoming aid, has been experiencing significant congestion since Israeli infantry made incursions into Rafah in early May.
Israel’s prolonged eight-month military campaign against Hamas has resulted in a severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which has seen increasing levels of starvation and hundreds of thousands of inhabitants nearing famine, as reported by the UN. The global community has implored Israel to make greater efforts to alleviate the situation.
For the period between 6th May and 6th June, the UN recorded an average daily inflow of 68 aid trucks, as reported by the UN’s humanitarian office, OCHA. This figure is a steep drop from the average of 168 trucks noted in April, and significantly lower than the daily requirement of 500 trucks as recommended by aid groups.
As the humanitarian requirement in southern Gaza swelled, the influx of aid diminished. Post the invasion, over one million Palestinian refugees, already displaced previously, abandoned Rafah and sought shelter in other regions of southern and central Gaza.
These refugees now live in poorly structured makeshift camps where they endure living with unsanitary conditions, such as using ditches for defecation, and are contending with open sewage systems in the streets.
Cogat, the military unit of Israel supervising aid allocation in Gaza, claims that there are no inhibitions on the entry of trucks. It confirms that over 8,600 trucks carrying various cargos, including aid and commercial supplies, were able to access Gaza through all crossings between 2nd May and 13th June, averaging about 201 trucks per day. However, a considerable portion of the aid remains stuck at the crossings and not distributed to the needy.
A representative from Cogat has claimed that the United Nations is responsible for the build-up of goods on the Gaza side of Kerem Shalom, blaming it on unresolved “basic logistic issues”, including a shortage of vehicles.
The UN, however, rejects these claims. It argues that the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas often makes it too dangerous for its vehicles to travel inside Gaza to Kerem Shalom, which is situated right on Israel’s border.
The UN also indicates that the rate of supplies has been hindered as the Israeli military has to grant permission for drivers to reach the site – a protocol Israel states is in place for driver safety purposes. The lack of security has led, in some instances, to aid vehicles being plundered by the masses while in transit on the roads of Gaza.
To alleviate the necessity for coordinating consignments, a new system has been suggested which will offer an eleven-hour period each day for uninterrupted movement of vehicles in and out of the border.
Whether the military will offer protection for aid vehicles as they journey along the arterial roads remains uncertain, with further details yet to be confirmed by the relevant agencies.