Israel allowed the entry of 100 humanitarian aid trucks, carrying flour, babies food and medical equipment in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday (21), the Israeli army said. UN authorities reported that distribution problems prevented help from reaching the needy people.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Israel would be open to a temporary ceasefire to allow the return of hostages. Otherwise, however, he said that Israel would continue with a military campaign to obtain full control of Gaza.
After an 11-week blockade at the entry of supplies in Gaza, the Israeli army reported that a total of 98 humanitarian aid trucks arrived on Monday (19) and Tuesday (20). But even these minimum supplies did not reach the community cafeteries, bakeries, markets and hospitals of Gaza, according to local humanitarian authorities and local bakeries that were ready to receive flour supplies.
“None of this help – a very limited number of trucks – has reached the population of Gaza,” said Antoine Renard, national director of the World Food Program.
The blockade left Gaza residents in an increasingly desperate struggle for survival, despite the growing international and internal pressure on the Israeli government, which, according to an opposition figure, can turn the country into a “outcast state.”
Thousands of tons of food and other vital supplies are waiting near the passage points to Gaza, but until they can be safely distributed, about a quarter of the population is still at risk of hunger, Renard said.
“I’ve been here since eight in the morning, just to get a plate for six people, as it’s not enough for one person,” said Mahmoud Al-Haw, who says he often expects up to six hours a day hoping to get some lentil soup to keep his children alive.
UN officials said security problems prevented help from leaving the Logistics Center at the Kerem Shalom border post, but some hope arose that supplies circulate with more freedom.
Nahid Shahaiber, owner of a large transport company, said 75 flour trucks and more than a dozen carrying nutritional supplements and sugar were in the southern area of Rafah, and witnesses said trucks carrying flour were seen in Deir al-Balah in the center of the Gaza strip.
Israel imposed a blockade on all supplies entering Gaza in March, saying that Hamas was confiscating civilian supplies – an accusation that the group denies.
Under growing international pressure, the government has allowed UN humanitarian deliveries and other humanitarian groups to be resumed briefly until a new US -backed distribution model using private contractors operating through so -called safe centers by the end of the month. But the United Nations claim that the plan is neither impartial nor neutral and will not participate in the process.
Air strikes
While the population awaited the arrival of supplies, air attacks and tanks shots killed at least 50 people throughout the Gaza Strip on Wednesday (21), Palestinian health officials reported. The Israeli army stated that air attacks have reached 115 targets, including rocket launchers, tunnels and unspecified military infrastructure.
The efforts to interrupt fights failed, with Hamas, which insists at the definitive end of war and the removal of Israeli forces, and Israel, which says Hamas must disarm and leave Gaza, maintaining positions that the other side rejects.
Netanyahu said an Israeli air strike this month probably killed Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar, and reiterated his demand for the complete demilitarization of Gaza and the exile of Hamas leaders for the war to end.
The resumption of the attack on Gaza since March, after a two-month ceasefire, attracted the condemnation of countries such as the United Kingdom and Canada, who have long been cautious about expressing criticism of Israel. Even the United States, the most important ally in the country, have given signs of losing patience with Netanyahu.
Netanyahu said it was “a shame” that countries like Britain were sanctioning Israel instead of Hamas.
Meanwhile, there is a growing restlessness within Israel with the continuation of war, while 58 hostages remain in Gaza.
Left -wing opposition leader Yair Golan attracted a furious response from the government and his supporters this week, when he stated that “a country is not killing babies as a hobby” and said that Israel was in danger of becoming a “outcast state among nations.”
Golan, former Israeli army deputy commander who rescued the victims of Hamas’s attack to Israel alone on October 7, 2023, leads Left Democrats, a small party with little electoral influence.
But his words, and similar comments from former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in an interview with the BBC, stressed the division within Israel. Netanyahu rejected the criticism, saying he was “horrified” with the comments of Golan.
Opinion surveys show ample support for a ceasefire that would include the return of all hostages, with a survey by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem this week showing 70% in favor of an agreement.
But the Cabinet row, some of which advocate the complete expulsion of all Gaza Palestinians, insist on continuing the war until the “final victory”, which would include Hamas’s disarmament and the return of hostages.
Netanyahu, who is behind him in opinion polls and faces trial at home on charges of corruption, which he denies, as well as an arrest warrant of the International Criminal Court, has so far been allied with the hard line.
Israel launched his campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people, according to Israeli estimates, and made 251 hostages kidnapped in Gaza.
The campaign killed more than 53,600 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health authorities, and devastated the coastal track, where humanitarian aid groups say signals of severe malnutrition are widespread.
This content was originally published in aid trucks enter Gaza after delays; Pressure on Israel grows on the CNN Brazil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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