Humanitarian organizations say Israel’s new aid inspection checkpoint not enough to deliver adequate supplies to Gaza

Israeli checks on aid supplies leaving Egypt for Gaza — which slow the delivery of crucial supplies to more than a million Palestinians in severe need — are now taking place at two sites instead of one, said a source in the Egyptian Red Crescent who spoke to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity. 

"But the passage of the few aid trucks dispatched is still restricted to the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. “Humanitarian agencies report this is not sufficient,” according to a United Nations report released on Wednesday. 

As Israel drives more and more of Gaza’s population to the southernmost parts of the strip near the border with Egypt, it has become increasingly challenging for humanitarian agencies to distribute the scarce aid supplies.

Conditions in the strip are worsening, with starvation and disease now added to the dangers faced by Gaza’s population, of whom over 18,000 have already been killed since October in the Occupation’s deadly airstrikes and ground operations.

Occupation authorities announced on Monday that it would conduct security checks on aid trucks at the Karem Abu Salem border crossing (known as Kerem Shalom in Israel) to increase the volume of humanitarian supplies reaching the Gaza Strip. 

Accordingly, 80 aid trucks underwent inspection by Occupation authorities at Karem Abu Salem on Tuesday, said a source in the Egyptian Red Crescent who spoke to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity. They then drove the five kilometers back north to the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza.

All of the aid reaching Gaza at the moment enters from Egypt via the border crossing at Rafah.

Until now, trucks have been inspected by Occupation authorities only at the Awja-Nitzana border crossing, a little over 45 km south of Rafah. Inspections will now be conducted at both the Awja-Nitzana and Karem Abu Salem borders.

107 trucks carrying humanitarian supplies entered Gaza from Egypt on Tuesday, the UN human rights report said, noting that this number remains significantly inadequate, considering that approximately 500 trucks used to enter Gaza daily before Israel initiated its assault on the strip.

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry has condemned Israel’s cumbersome inspection operations for hindering the flow of aid to the Gaza Strip.

Now, the United States appears to be pushing for the Karem Abu Salem crossing, normally operated by Egyptian, Israeli and Palestinian authorities, to be opened for trucks to pass into Gaza as well. “Rafah cannot absorb a sufficient amount of aid,” White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told CNN reporter Jeremy Diamond on Tuesday. “We need the capacity that Kerem Shalom provides – on an emergency basis … we’re putting that quite urgently to the Israeli government.”