GENEVA, May 22. /TASS/. Less than a hundred aid trucks have arrived in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip in the past few days, a mere "drop in the ocean" considering the population’s dire need for humanitarian aid and food, Palestinian Health Minister Majid Abu Ramadan told reporters.
He said that even after it was publicly announced that humanitarian aid deliveries will be allowed into Gaza, the majority of cargo remains stranded at the border.
"According to my information, only a few shipments have reached Gaza, perhaps 90 to 100 truckloads, that's all," he said at a briefing for the Association of Accredited Correspondents at the United Nations in Geneva. "So it's like a drop in the ocean. It's not enough by any means."
He said he had no information on whether any of these aid deliveries reached the north of the enclave and its administrative center, Gaza City.
"As far as I know from local sources, only flour for the bakeries run in cooperation with WHO and UNICEF and others has come in," he said, adding that none of the cargo contained much-needed medical goods.
The government of Gaza estimates that around 500 trucks with aid need to cross into the enclave every day to meet even the basic needs of its residents.
On May 18, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that it was launching military operations in the enclave’s northern and southern regions as part of its Gideon’s Chariots ground offensive. On the following day, Israel said it would allow food deliveries to Gaza to prevent famine.
According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), approximately 1.95 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are experiencing acute food shortages, while over 133,000 are facing famine. The organization’s report says that as Israel broadened its military operations to the entire enclave, obstructing aid deliveries to the population, a widespread famine is becoming more and more likely.