Far too little aid was reaching Gaza nearly four weeks after a ceasefire, humanitarian agencies said yesterday, as hunger persisted with winter approaching and old tents starting to fray following Israel’s devastating two-year offensive.
The truce was meant to unleash a torrent of aid across the tiny, crowded enclave where famine was confirmed in August and where almost all the 2.3 million inhabitants have lost their homes to Israeli bombardment.
However, only half the needed amount of food is coming in, according to the World Food Programme, while an umbrella group of Palestinian agencies said overall aid volumes were between a quarter and a third of the expected amount.
Israel says it is fulfilling its obligations under the ceasefire agreement, which calls for an average of 600 trucks of supplies into Gaza per day. It blames Hamas for any food shortages, accusing them of stealing food aid before it can be distributed, which the group denies.
Gaza’s local administration, long controlled by Hamas, says most trucks are still not reaching their destinations due to Israeli restrictions, and only about 145 per day are delivering supplies.
The United Nations, which earlier in the war published daily figures on aid trucks crossing into Gaza, is no longer giving those figures routinely.
Israel last night received a body from Hamas via the Red Cross in Gaza that would be transported to Israel for identification, after Hamas said it had located the remains of a hostage to be returned to Israel.
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