OCHA calls for opening of 'Kerem Shalom' border to deliver aid to Gaza
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The UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has urged the opening of the 'Kerem Shalom' crossing to enhance humanitarian aid delivery to the Gaza Strip.
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United Nations and Red Crescent workers prepare the aid for distribution to Palestinians at UNRWA warehouse in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza Strip, on Monday, Oct. 23, 2023. (AP)
Director of OCHA's Humanitarian Financing and Resource Mobilization Division, Lisa Doughten, emphasized on Tuesday the need to open an extra border crossing to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, given the deteriorating situation.
"And more than one entry point into Gaza is indispensable if we are to make a difference. Kerem Shalom between Israel and Gaza is the only crossing equipped to rapidly process a sufficiently large number of trucks," Doughten said at the UN Security Council meeting on behalf of Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths.
On a similar note, a senior US government official announced on Sunday night that “Israel has approved the daily entry of 100 aid trucks into Gaza,” through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.
The US official said that the aid will include a limited amount of fuel to be distributed by the United Nations to the main health facilities in Gaza, adding that the goal is “to prevent Hamas from accessing any of this fuel.”
On the same day, an additional 40 trucks were scheduled to make their way into Gaza, according to United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Palestine Representative and Director Samer Abdel Jaber.
On the other hand, since the Israelis imposed a blockade on Gaza, the Rafah gate, which is administered by Egypt but does not border the Israeli-occupied part of Palestine, has become the major point of humanitarian distribution.
Before the fighting, roughly 500 trucks per day crossed into Gaza, but in recent days, just 12 lorries per day have entered, according to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Earlier this month, reports confirmed on October 23 that the third convoy of aid trucks had crossed the Rafah border from Egypt to deliver to Gaza.
This came after the first 20 aid trucks crossed into Gaza on October 21, and another 17 entered on October 22, bringing the total to 37 trucks so far.
