World

Aid agencies dispute Israel’s figures for humanitarian aid

‘We need to flood Gaza with aid,’ says Unrwa commissioner general Philippe Lazzarini

Trucks at the entrance to the port of Ashdod, southern Israel, last week. Israel approved the reopening of the northern Gaza border crossing of Erez but aid agencies say change has been too slow to materialise. Photograph: Abir Sultan/EPA

Michael Jansen
Wed Apr 10 2024 - 14:44

Muslims began Eid al-Fitr, the three-day feast which ends the fasting month of Ramadan on Wednesday, but it was overshadowed by the war in Gaza, which faces widespread famine.

In advance of the feast, US president Joe Biden urged Israel to increase the entry of food to Gaza.

Israel responded by announcing that 322 aid trucks entered Gaza on Sunday, 419 on Monday, and 458 on Tuesday. These were the highest figures for trucks admitted on a daily basis since war began in October.

However, Egyptian Red Crescent officials said 258 trucks had crossed from Egypt into Gaza on Sunday and 350 on Monday.

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The UN agency caring for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, said 223 trucks had entered Gaza on Monday. In its daily situation report, Unrwa said: “There has been no significant change in the volume of humanitarian supplies entering Gaza or improved access to the north.”

Unrwa commissioner general Philippe Lazzarini told the BBC that the number of aid trucks entering Gaza daily has been between 150-180, far below the 500 that crossed each day before the war began.

“We have been warning for months about looming famine in the Gaza Strip,” said Mr Lazzarini. “We need to flood Gaza with aid.”

On the discrepancies between Israel and aid groups on the number of aid trucks crossing into Gaza, Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said Israel “typically counted the half-filled trucks going through an initial screening process [which can exclude 20-25 trucks daily], rather than [counting] repacked full trucks which enter Gaza”.

Mr Laerke said UN food deliveries in Gaza are “much more likely to be impeded or denied compared to other humanitarian aid, and aid for northern Gaza - where 70 per cent of the people face famine- is three times more likely to be denied.”

In a statement to The Irish Times, Médecins Sans Frontières Palestinian mission chief Leo Cans said: “We can also see differences between the Israeli announcements of trucks coming in and the reality in the field.”

He welcomed Israel’s recent plan to open the northern Erez terminal for aid deliveries but said: “We haven’t seen any concrete action [there] or any substantial aid going through Erez.” Mr Cans said “the north is a siege within a siege”.

Commenting on risks to relief workers, he said: “We lost five colleagues since the beginning of the war.” Mr Cans said general insecurity and the lack of respect for aid workers make it extremely challenging to deliver aid, “even if we manage to get it inside Gaza”.

Despite differences between Israel and aid agencies, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan commended Israel’s withdrawal from the city of Khan Younis and said it provides “a greater opening for the movement of humanitarian goods around Gaza at a critical moment when there is a real humanitarian crisis there”.

Israel denies it is obstructing aid, contends supplies for civilians are not limited and blames UN inefficiency for delays and shortages. Israel has not replied to criticisms on this issue.

Michael Jansen

Michael Jansen

Michael Jansen contributes news from and analysis of the Middle East to The Irish Times

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