Israel has opened the Kerem Shalom border crossing for aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip. “From today, UN aid trucks will undergo security checks and will be transported directly to Gaza through Kerem Shalom in order to fulfill our agreement with the United States,” the Israeli COGAT said today.
Officials shared a photo of trucks lined up. It is unclear whether the trucks have yet crossed the crossing.
The opening in the southeast of the Gaza Strip, near the border with Egypt, aims to increase the daily amount of humanitarian aid entering the area, the Israeli official said.
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Given the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the isolated coastal zone, Israel has recently come under increasing international pressure – including from the US.
The security cabinet in Israel provisionally approved the opening of the border crossing last week. The aim is to reduce the burden on the Egyptian border crossing from Rafah towards Gaza. Before the war, Kerem Shalom was used as a transit point for goods to the Gaza Strip.
According to the Palestinian aid organization UNRWA, almost 1.9 million people are currently fleeing the Gaza Strip – more than 85 percent of the population.