TEL AVIV, January 19. /TASS/. As many as 240 trucks carrying food, water and drugs entered Gaza through the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossing points in the past day, the Israeli Defense Ministry’s unit coordinating government activities in the Palestinian territories (COGAT) said.

A total of "240 humanitarian aid trucks were inspected and transferred to Gaza on January 18," COGAT said on X (formerly Twitter).

As many as 101 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered the enclave through the Rafah border crossing and another 139 crossed into Gaza via Kerem Shalom.

Tensions in the Middle East flared up again on October 7 after militants from the radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip, killing residents of border communities and taking people hostage. In response, Israel announced a total blockade of Gaza and started carrying out strikes on targets in the enclave, as well as on certain areas in Lebanon and Syria; later, a ground operation was launched in the Strip. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.