UN says 81 aid trucks entered Gaza, number 'inadequate'
Dec 31, 2023
Gaza [Palestine], December 31: Eighty-one trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom and Rafah crossings on Friday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said, describing the number as "woefully inadequate."
"In total 81 trucks carrying food and medicine entered Gaza on 29 December through Kerem Shalom and Rafah crossings. The volume of aid remains woefully inadequate," the OCHA said in a situation report.
It also cited UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths as saying that "this is an impossible situation for the people of Gaza and for those trying to help them."
Israel says it inspects several hundred trucks a day and blames UN workers for delaying the supplies to Gaza, claiming they cannot work as fast as the Israelis, The Times of Israel reported.
Meanwhile, the UN says the air and ground operations of the Israeli army in the Palestinian enclave make the delivery of humanitarian aid impossible.
During the week-long ceasefire in late November, 200 trucks entered the Gaza Strip every day, the newspaper reported. Before the escalation, the number stood at 500.
The war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel's history, carried out by Hamas and other groups in Israel on October 7. (Sputnik)
Source: Qatar Tribune