The first relief supplies reach Gaza – fights continue

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The first relief supplies reach Gaza – fights continue

After a year and a half war, the need is huge: for the first time in a long time, relief supplies arrive in the Gaza Strip again – but just a fraction of the necessary. Israel’s new offensive tightens the situation.

In view of the procedure of the Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip and the ongoing emergency of the civilian population, international pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is growing. According to an Israeli authority, relief supplies reached the sealed coastal area for the first time in almost three months – but only in a minimal amount. At the same time, Israel’s new military offensive continues. The heads of state and government of France, Great Britain and Canada spoke of a “completely disproportionate” escalation on Monday evening – and directed a warning to Netanyahu’s government.

“If Israel does not stop the renewed military offensive and do not remove the restrictions on humanitarian aid, we will react with other concrete measures,” said France President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Strandmer and his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney.

Netanyahu countered that Israel will not move away from his war goals and “continue to defend itself with just” until the full victory has won “. Netanyahu had carried out what that means on Monday: “We will take control of all areas of the Gaza Strip.” According to his idea, Israeli soldiers should remain stationed in Gaza in the future. The Islamist organization Hamas wants to have Netanyahu completely smashed.

According to the Israeli authority Cogat responsible for Palestinian matters, five trucks with relief goods reached the densely populated coastal area on Monday via the Kerem Schalom border crossing. According to its own statements, Israel wants to ensure a basic supply and prevent a famine in a large -scale gaza strip, where around two million Palestinians after more than one and a half years of war as a lack.

From the point of view of the UN and aid organizations, these deliveries are far from sufficient. UN-NOTILFECORORINATOR TOM Fletcher said that the approval of resuming “limited” help by Israel was a “welcome development” that must continue. “But this is just a drop on the hot stone compared to what is urgently needed.”

According to the UN, a total of nine trucks had been given the permission of the Israeli authorities on Monday to enter Gaza. Since the cogat authority spoke of five trucks, it was initially not clear, which is why the other trucks mentioned by the UN did not get to Gaza.

Before the beginning of the Gaza War in October 2023, around 500 trucks had transported goods to the coastal area every day. UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric also emphasized that the aid deliveries are still inadequate and hundreds of trucks are needed. “Of course, nine trucks are better than no trucks, but we need a massive increase in humanitarian aid, we need a massive influx of food, food oil, fuel to cover this need.”

In a joint appeal to Israel, the Foreign Minister of Germany and around 20 other donor countries demanded significantly more aid deliveries to allow in the Gaza Strip. “Allow the United Nations and the Humanitarian Organizations to work independently and impartially to save lives, to alleviate and maintain the dignity,” says the letter published by the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin.

Since the beginning of March, Israel had left no aid deliveries in the Gaza Strip. As a reason, Netanyahu’s government stated that Hamas continued to sell the relief goods profitably to pay terrorists and weapons for their fight against the Jewish state. On Sunday, the Israeli Prime Minister’s office surprisingly announced that it would allow aid deliveries to the area again.