‘s journalist Antti Kuronen says that aid organizations have difficulties applying for aid from the Gaza border all the way to the destination.
Antti Kuronen,
Vilma Romsi
The delivery of aid transports to northern Gaza continues to struggle, a reporter who investigated the situation of aid transports in Israel Antti Kuronen says.
Under international pressure, Israel allowed more aid to be flown into Gaza after an airstrike killed Western aid workers in early April.
Israel promised, among other things, to open new routes for aid transport – the port of Ashdod, located in the northwest of Gaza, and the Erez border crossing, located on the northern border of Gaza.
Later Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that an alternative route to northern Gaza will be opened instead of Erez. According to media reports, the route would pass right next to the Mediterranean coastline through the Zikim kibbutz and the Palestinian village of As-Shiafa.
“Finding out the nooks and crannies of humanitarian aid is real detective work here,” says Kuronen.
– Through some means, Israel has taken aid from the World Food Organization to Gaza City in recent days. Among other things, a bakery has opened there.
Northern Gaza on the brink of famine
Northern Gaza has suffered the most from Israel’s military operations. The region is on the brink of famine. Aid to Gaza has mainly been brought from Egypt through the Rafah border crossing – it has been very difficult to get goods forward to northern Gaza due to Israeli checkpoints and shelling.
In addition, the Kerem Shalom border crossing point on Gaza’s border with Israel in the south has been open. According to Kuronen, getting help to the destination is still a problem.
– Israel does not allow the trucks to drive from the Israeli side all the way to Gaza, but the aid loads must be unloaded at the border. The aid organizations operating in Gaza do not have enough resources to apply for aid, says Kuronen by phone from Ramallah in the West Bank.
According to Kuronen, it is still unclear how long Israel will allow the delivery of additional aid.
– Time will also tell whether it will be allowed to deliver medicine to Gaza, for example.
The latest war between Israel and Hamas, which controls Gaza, broke out on October 7, when Hamas attacked Israel. The extremist organization’s fighters killed around 1,200 Israelis and took more than 200 people hostage.
Israel, on the other hand, attacked Gaza, causing a humanitarian crisis. According to unconfirmed data from the Gaza Ministry of Health, more than 35,000 people have been killed in Israeli military operations.