Israel says 322 aid trucks entered Gaza on Sunday, highest number since war started
Global pressure appears to force boost in flow of trucks into Strip; Gallant and US ambassador tour military’s new aid coordination office, set up as part of new measures
The Defense Ministry body that coordinates Israeli activity in Palestinian territories said that 322 aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip on Sunday, the highest one-day total since the beginning of the war.
The Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) emphasized that Israel places no limit to aid that can enter the Strip, but the boost in transfers Sunday appears to be a result of mounting international pressure on Israel to improve the humanitarian situation in the enclave.
According to COGAT, 70 percent of the trucks entering Gaza on Sunday carried food.
Meanwhile, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew toured the IDF’s new Humanitarian Coordination and Deconfliction Cell on Sunday, which was established earlier this week as part of a series of steps to improve the situation of Palestinians in Gaza.
“As we work to achieve the goals of this war, namely the destruction of Hamas and the return of the hostages, we recognize the importance of facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza,” Gallant said during the tour.
According to a Defense Ministry statement, Gallant and Lew were briefed on “measures being taken to increase the effective inspection, transfer, and distribution of humanitarian aid.”
????322 humanitarian aid trucks were inspected and transferred to Gaza today (Apr. 7).
This is the highest number of aid trucks transferred to Gaza in one day since the start of the war.There is no limit to the amount of aid that can be facilitated for the civilians in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/z2PXDlmTw1
— COGAT (@cogatonline) April 7, 2024
The statement added that the humanitarian coordination cell was established in order to “enable key partners to work closely in order to facilitate the delivery of aid in a manner that will enable the IDF to continue operating against Hamas terrorism, while also ensuring the security of aid workers.”
Gallant also said Israel is working closely with the US to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, where the United Nations has warned of looming famine.
“I would like to express my appreciation to the US administration for their longstanding support during this war, and for their leadership on the humanitarian issue as it pertains both to the hostage issue and to aid being delivered to Gaza,” he said.
In the wake of the deadly strike on the World Central Kitchen convoy and US President Joe Biden’s tense conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s security cabinet decided to take immediate steps to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, the Prime Minister’s Office announced Friday.
The measures included temporarily opening up Ashdod Port for humanitarian deliveries and opening the Erez Crossing in the northern Gaza Strip for the first time since it was significantly damaged, and many Israelis were killed and abducted there, during the Hamas-led October 7 terror onslaught that sparked the ongoing war.
Israel also committed to increase the amount of aid from Jordan moving through the Kerem Shalom crossing at the southern end of Gaza.
The United Nations on Saturday said Israel had authorized the opening of 20 bakeries in the northern Gaza Strip and a waterline to supply the area as part of the fresh measures.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said on Sunday that Baghdad would be sending 10 million liters of fuel to the Gaza Strip in support of the Palestinian people. Iraq also agreed to receive wounded Palestinians from Gaza and provide them treatment in government and private hospitals, the prime minister added in a statement.
It was not immediately clear how such a transfer would be coordinated with Israel, which inspects and approves all aid entering the Strip.
The Israel-Hamas war erupted when the Palestinian terror group Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack against Israel on October 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking another 253 hostages, some half of whom are still being held in the Strip.
Since the start of the war, more than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry. These figures can not be verified and do not differentiate between civilians and combatants. Israel says it has killed more than 13,000 gunmen in Gaza and another 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7. As of Sunday, 260 IDF soldiers have been killed during fighting in Gaza.
