The Israeli military said it would establish a new safe corridor to deliver aid into southern Gaza. But days later the “tactical pause” has brought little relief to Palestinians.
There is growing desperation in Gaza, as aid routes to deliver food and water to the millions of displaced Palestinians are becoming ‘unusable’ according to the United Nations.
On Sunday, Israel promised to observe daily pauses in fighting along a route stretching from Kerem Shalom — the strip’s only operational aid crossing in the south — to the nearby city of Khan Younis.
The so called ‘tactical pause’ was supposed to allow for a new safe corridor to deliver aid into Southern Gaza, but so far it has brought little relief to Palestinians.
Thousands of truckloads of aid is piled up ready to be delivered, but according to a UN official who spoke on condition of anonymity, groups of armed men are regularly blocking convoys.
It’s proving to be a major obstacle to aid distribution in central Gaza, where an estimated 1.3 million Palestinians are sheltering in tent camps and cramped apartments desperate for food, water and medical supplies.
Aid groups say only a ceasefire and the reopening of the Rafah crossing could significantly increase aid flow to the area.
Meanwhile according to local media, the Israeli Defense Forces has announced the death of two more soldiers who were reportedly killed during a Hamas attack in the central Gaza Strip on Thursday.
It brings the Israeli military death toll to 314.
