CAIRO, August 21. /TASS/. Over the past three and a half weeks, just around 2,000 humanitarian trucks have arrived in the Gaza Strip, or less than 15% of the volume needed by the local population, the Palestinian enclave said on its Telegram channel.
According to it, over the past 25 days, at least 15,000 trucks carrying humanitarian aid were expected in Gaza, and only 2,187 trucks were allowed to enter the enclave, "or less than 15% of what is actually needed."
Authorities in Gaza blamed this on Israel which has been blocking the operation of crossing points on the enclave’s border as they called on the global community to take serious measures for the provision of enough food, baby food, and vital medicines to residents of the enclave.
Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when Hamas militants staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking over 250 hostages, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as retaliation for the aggressive actions taken by Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel launched an operation in the enclave to kill all military and political leaders of Hamas and release all hostages. According to the latest data from the Gazan Health Ministry, a total of over 62,000 Palestinians have been killed in hostilities in the enclave, with more than 157,000 people injured. Some 270 residents of the enclave, including 112 children, have died of starvation.
On August 7, the Brussels-based Euractiv news website reported, citing a document the European Commission shared with EU governments, that Israel allowed four times fewer trucks carrying UN humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip between July 31 and August 4 than it had promised to the European Union. The document notes that according to Israel, a total of 737 trucks entered Gaza during this time but its calculations also include commercial vehicles.