Israel wants to allow more aid for Gaza

War in the Middle East - Israel wants to allow more aid for Gaza

According to media reports, Israel wants to increase its capacity to handle trucks at the border following ongoing criticism of the faltering aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip. According to the Hamas-controlled health ministry, the number of Palestinians killed since the beginning of the war has risen to almost 17,200. There was fighting both in the southern city of Chan Junis and in the northern refugee camp of Jabalia. Egypt warned of a red line if Palestinians were displaced onto its territory.

Media: Israel wants to allow more aid transports to Gaza

Israel wants to use the Kerem Shalom border crossing to inspect aid shipments in the coming days for the first time since the start of the war, reported the "Times of Israel", citing a high-ranking government representative.

This should facilitate the import of a larger number of trucks, the newspaper reported, citing the responsible Israeli Cogat authority. It was initially unclear how much more aid would reach the Palestinian coastal area as a result.

Aid deliveries via another border crossing?

The USA and the international community have long been insisting on an expansion of aid for the suffering population in the Gaza Strip. According to the report, the USA also wants Israel to reopen Kerem Shalom for the import and export of aid shipments. At present, however, only the inspection of deliveries is planned there. After clearance, the trucks are to enter the Gaza Strip via Rafah, the border crossing with Egypt. Since the beginning of the war, deliveries have been made exclusively via Rafah. Before the war, around 500 trucks of humanitarian goods were entering the area sealed off by Israel every day; currently, only a fraction of this number is being delivered.

UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths believes there is a chance that the Kerem Shalom border crossing from Israel into the Gaza Strip will be opened soon. Griffiths said in Geneva that the UN Emergency Relief Agency (OCHA) was still waiting for the green light, but was now planning convoys from Jordan with relief supplies to travel via the Kerem Shalom border crossing. Like the Rafah crossing from Egypt, which is used for aid deliveries, it is also located in the south of the Gaza Strip. Kerem Shalom was the border crossing through which most aid reached the Gaza Strip before the terrorist attack by extremist Palestinian groups on Israel on October 7.

The use of Kerem Shalom makes it somewhat easier to supply people in need. But only an end to the Israeli attacks and a ceasefire could guarantee the necessary aid for the people. Humanitarian aid workers had not abandoned the people, he emphasized. But they could only reach people here and there in view of the ongoing fighting; reliable supplies were not possible. "We have no planning security and none of us can see where this is going," said Griffiths. It is unclear where the people who have been pushed into the south of the Gaza Strip by Israel should go and what their future is.

Hamas authority: Number of dead in Gaza rises to almost 17,200

The number of Palestinians killed in the Gaza Strip has risen to 17,177 since the beginning of the Gaza war, according to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health. 46,000 people have been injured, the ministry announced. On Tuesday, the ministry had spoken of 16,248 deaths.

The casualty figures cannot currently be independently verified, but the United Nations and other observers point out that the authority's figures have proved to be generally credible in the past.

Egypt warns Israel against expelling Palestinians

The government in Cairo will not allow the inhabitants of the coastal strip to be pushed towards or even onto the Sinai Peninsula, which belongs to Egypt, according to the State Information Service (SIS). This would cross a "red line" because Egypt sees this as a threat to the national security and sovereignty of the state. It also stated that the Rafah crossing on the southern border of the Gaza Strip was "permanently open" for individuals and goods. All "obstacles at the crossing" come from the Israeli side.

So far, there have been no reports of major attempts by civilians from the Gaza Strip to cross the border with Egypt. However, some people expressed the fear that they could be forced to go to Egypt. They were worried that they would not be allowed to return to the Gaza Strip later, several residents in Khan Yunis told a dpa reporter.

Fighting in Khan Yunis and Jabalia

Israel's military continued its fighting against Hamas in Khan Yunis, the largest city in the southern Gaza Strip. Dozens of terrorist positions were attacked, the army announced. Fighting also continued in the north of the coastal region. In Jabalia, soldiers attacked a Hamas military compound and also killed several terrorists. According to the military, they found tunnels and weapons at the site. Israel's navy also fired on Hamas positions in the Gaza Strip again.

The Israeli army had previously reported that it had breached Hamas' defenses in Khan Yunis and advanced deeper into the city. Experts suspect that the Hamas leadership and thousands of its members may have entrenched themselves in an extensive network of tunnels. Many of the hostages still being held are also believed to be there. Israeli soldiers had temporarily surrounded the house of the Gaza head of the Islamist Hamas, Jihia al-Sinwar. The elimination of Hamas leaders is considered an important goal of Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip.

Emirates submit ceasefire resolution to UN

The United Arab Emirates submitted a new draft resolution to the UN Security Council calling for a ceasefire. Similar attempts had previously failed due to resistance from the USA. Earlier, in a rare move, UN Secretary-General António Guterres had urged the Security Council to take action to avert a humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip. In a letter to the Security Council on Wednesday, the UN chief invoked Article 99 of the UN Charter for the first time since taking office in 2017.

"I reiterate my call for a humanitarian ceasefire to be declared. This is urgent. The civilian population must be spared greater suffering," the letter said.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell echoed Guterres' call and called on the EU members of the UN Security Council to support his initiative. The Palestinian Authority also welcomed the UN Secretary-General's move. Sharp criticism came from Israel, however. "His request to activate Article 99 and the call for a ceasefire in Gaza constitute support for the terrorist organization Hamas," wrote Israel's Foreign Minister Eli Cohen on X.