The amount of humanitarian aid going into the Gaza Strip will be ramped up in coming days, Israel’s military said on Sunday, citing new corridors that use an Israeli seaport and border crossings into the Palestinian enclave.
After closing off access to Gaza following the Hamas attack on Oct. 7 that set off the war, Israel has since allowed in aid convoys amid growing international pressure to boost the amount of supplies to feed Gaza’s 2.3 million people.
A spiraling humanitarian crisis has prompted calls from Israel’s Western and Arab partners to do more to facilitate the entry of aid to the enclave, where most are homeless, many face famine, and where civilian infrastructure is devastated and disease widespread.
The United States said earlier this month it welcomed Israel’s latest efforts to allow in more humanitarian aid, but success would be measured in results in improving the situation on the ground.
“Over the last few weeks, the amount of humanitarian aid going into Gaza has significantly increased. In the coming days, the amount of aid going into Gaza will continue to scale up even more,” spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a statement.
“Food, water, medical supplies, shelter equipment and other aid – more of it is going into Gaza than ever before,” Hagari said.
Separately, U.S.-based charity World Central Kitchen said it would resume operations in the Gaza Strip on Monday, a month after seven of its workers were killed in an Israeli air strike.
Hagari said the aid increase is a result of using Israel’s Ashdod port, as well as a new crossing into northern Gaza and increased aid from Jordan entering through the Kerem Shalom border crossing at the southern tip of Gaza.
Israel is also working with U.S. Central Command to construct a “temporary maritime pier,” which will allow ship-to-shore distribution, Hagari said.
“Getting aid to the people of Gaza is a top priority —because our war is against Hamas, not against the people of Gaza,” he added.
At least 13 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes on Rafah, medical officials say
Israeli air strikes on three houses in the southern Gaza city of Rafah killed 13 people and wounded many others, medics said on Monday.
Hamas media outlets put the death toll at 15.
In Gaza City, in the north of the strip, Israeli planes struck two houses, killing and wounding several people, health officials said.
The strikes on Rafah, where over a million people are sheltering from months of Israeli bombardment, came hours before Egypt was expected to host leaders of the Islamist group Hamas to discuss prospects for a ceasefire agreement with Israel.
The war was triggered by an attack by Hamas militants on Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 and taking 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel has vowed to eradicate Hamas, which controls Gaza, in a military operation that has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, 66 of them in the past 24 hours, according to Gaza’s health authorities. The war has displaced most of the 2.3 million population and laid much of the enclave to waste.
On Sunday, Hamas officials said a delegation, led by Khalil Al-Hayya, the group’s deputy Gaza chief, would discuss a ceasefire proposal handed by Hamas to mediators from Qatar and Egypt, as well as Israel’s response. Mediators, backed by the United States, have stepped up their efforts to conclude a deal as Israel threatened to invade Rafah.
Two Hamas officials who spoke to Reuters did not disclose details of the latest proposals, but a source briefed on the talks told Reuters Hamas is expected to respond to Israel’s latest truce proposal delivered on Saturday.
The source said this included an agreement to accept the release of fewer than 40 hostages in exchange for releasing Palestinians held in Israeli jails and to a second phase of a truce that includes a “period of sustained calm” – Israel’s compromise response to a Hamas demand for a permanent ceasefire.
After the first phase, Israel would allow free movement between south and north Gaza and a partial withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, the source said.
A senior Hamas official told Reuters the Monday talks in Cairo will take place between the Hamas delegation and the Qatari and the Egyptian mediators to discuss remarks the group has made over the Israeli response to its recent proposal.
“Hamas has some questions and inquires over the Israeli response to its proposal, which the movement received from mediators on Friday,” the official told Reuters.
Those comments suggested Hamas may not hand an instant response to mediators over Israel’s latest proposal.
(Reuters)
