Gaza’s humanitarian crisis has spiraled as the UN and other aid agencies say the entry of food and other supplies to them has plunged dramatically since Israel’s Rafah offensive began more than two weeks ago.
On Friday, the top UN court — the International Court of Justice — ordered Israel to halt the Rafah offensive, though Israel is unlikely to comply.
At the heart of the problem lie the two main crossings through which around 300 trucks of aid a day had been flowing into Gaza before the offensive began.
Too dangerous
Israeli troops seized the Rafah crossing into Egypt, which has been inoperative since.
The nearby Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza has remained open, and Israel claims it has been sending hundreds of trucks a day into it.
While commercial trucks have successfully crossed, the UN says it cannot reach Kerem Shalom to pick up aid because fighting in the area makes it too dangerous.
As a result, the UN says it has received only 143 trucks from the crossing in the past 19 days.
Gaza famine
UN and other aid agencies had to rely on the far smaller number of trucks entering daily from a single crossing in northern Gaza and via a US-built pier bringing supplies by sea.
Humanitarian groups are scrambling to get food to Palestinians as some 900,000 people flee Rafah, scattering across central and southern Gaza. Aid workers warn Gaza is near famine.
UNRWA, the main UN agency in the humanitarian effort, had to halt food distribution in Rafah city because it had run out of supplies.
The Egyptian announcement appeared to resolve a political obstacle on one side of the border.Israel says it has kept the Rafah crossing open and asked Egypt to coordinate with it on sending aid convoys through it.
US pressure
Egypt refused, fearing the Israeli hold will remain permanent, and demanded Palestinians be put back in charge of the facility.
The White House, which is facing widespread criticism for its support for Israel's attacks on Gaza, has been pressing Egypt to resume the flow of trucks.
In a phone call with US President Joe Biden on Friday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi agreed to allow trucks carrying humanitarian aid and fuel to go to the Kerem Shalom crossing until a solution is found for the Rafah crossing, el-Sissi’s office said in a statement.
But it remained unclear whether the UN will be able to access additional trucks coming from Egypt.
In a post on social media outlet X on Thursday, UNRWA said, “We could resume (food distribution in Rafah) tomorrow if the crossing reopened & we were provided with safe routes.”
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