Israel opens new crossing for humanitarian aid to Gaza

Photo: Eyad Baba Agence France-Presse A Palestinian man sits on the ruins of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike, in the Nuseira refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.

Ruth Eglash – Agence France-Presse in Jerusalem

Published at 17:06

• Middle East

Israel announced the opening of a new humanitarian aid crossing into the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, just before a deadline set by the United States for an increase in aid that NGOs still deem insufficient.

Washington, for its part, affirmed that Israel was not violating American law regarding humanitarian aid entering the territory, but called for further progress.

While the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which has been going on for more than a year, has plunged Gaza into a serious humanitarian crisis, the United States had given Israeli authorities until mid-November to allow an increase in aid to the population of the territory, threatened with famine according to the UN.

As part of this effort, the “Kissoufim” crossing was opened today for humanitarian aid trucks,” the Israeli army said Tuesday.

The World Food Programme “announced to us today that it had sent the first aid convoy” through Kissoufim, said the spokesman for the UN chief, Stephane Dujarric, reporting 15 trucks carrying food parcels and flour.

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In a letter dated October 13, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin issued a series of demands to Israel to allow the increase in aid, giving it 30 days to respond. Otherwise, the United States threatened to suspend part of its military assistance to Israel.

The letter mentioned in particular the need for Israel to allow in up to 350 trucks of humanitarian aid per day, to open a fifth crossing point into the Gaza Strip and to limit evacuation orders.

Efforts “in the right direction”

The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) and eight international NGOs estimated on Tuesday that the aid entering Gaza was still insufficient.

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“Israel has failed to meet the demands of its [American] ally, at a huge human cost to civilians,” said the eight NGOs, including Oxfam and Save the Children.

“The humanitarian situation in Gaza is now at its lowest point since the beginning of the war. […] We call on the American government to conclude immediately that Israel is violating its commitments,” they wrote.

Israel's actions are “in the right direction,” responded the spokesman for the American State Department, Vedant Patel, saying however that he wanted to “see more.”

The war was triggered on October 7, 2023 by the unprecedented attack carried out by Hamas against Israel, which resulted in the death of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data, including hostages killed or killed in captivity. That day, 251 people were kidnapped. A total of 97 remain hostages in Gaza, including 34 reported dead by the army.

The Israeli retaliatory offensive has left 43,665 dead in the Palestinian territory, the majority of them civilians, according to data from the Hamas government's Health Ministry.

Washington does not lose hope

On Tuesday, at least 14 people were killed in several Israeli strikes on the territory, the local Civil Defense said.

The Israeli army announced that four soldiers had been killed in the north of the territory, bringing to 376 the number of Israeli soldiers killed in the Gaza Strip since the start of its ground operation on October 27, 2023.

The United States said Tuesday it had not “given up hope” of reaching a ceasefire, even though Qatar recently suspended its mediation, accusing Israel and Hamas of not showing “will and seriousness.”

Joyce Msuya, acting head of the UN humanitarian office, denounced the “daily cruelty” suffered by Palestinians, describing “acts that recall the most serious international crimes.”

29 dead in Lebanon

Israel is also at war in Lebanon, where Lebanese Hezbollah opened a front against it on October 8, 2023, in support of Hamas. After almost a year of cross-border shootings, the situation escalated into open conflict on September 23.

Since then, the Israeli army has been conducting an intense campaign of strikes in Lebanon, mainly against Hezbollah strongholds, and, since September 30, a ground offensive in the south of the country.

At least 29 people were killed Tuesday in Israeli strikes that targeted several regions across the country, including the southern suburbs of Beirut, a stronghold of the Islamist movement, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.

Hezbollah announced for its part that it had launched missiles on an air base south of Tel Aviv, in central Israel, as well as explosive drones on a military base near the city of Nahariya, in the north of the country.

Two residents of Nahariya, aged around fifty, were killed. killed in a rocket attack from Lebanon, municipal authorities announced.

In total, 45 civilians and 30 soldiers have died in Israel since the start of hostilities with Hezbollah. In Lebanon, more than 3,300 people have been killed, according to Lebanese authorities.

The head of UN peacekeeping operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, met with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Tuesday evening. His visit aims to “amplify the calls of the United Nations and the international community for de-escalation and a ceasefire” in Lebanon, according to Stéphane Dujarric.