The Israeli military announced a “tactical pause” in attacks in the southern Gaza Strip to allow for increased humanitarian aid.
The army said the ceasefire in the Rafah area would begin at 8am (5am GMT) and last until 7pm (7pm GMT), and would be in force every day until further notice.
The army said the suspension was intended to allow aid trucks to reach the nearby Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom checkpoint, the main entry point for aid, and travel safely to the Salah al-Din highway, the main north-south road, to deliver supplies to other parts of Gaza. It said the suspension was being coordinated with the United Nations and international aid agencies.
The checkpoint has been congested since Israeli ground troops moved into Rafah in early May.
An eight-month Israeli military offensive against Hamas militants has plunged Gaza into a humanitarian crisis, with the United Nations reporting widespread hunger and hundreds of thousands on the brink of starvation, and the international community is calling on Israel to do more to alleviate the plight.
Between May 6 and June 6, the UN received an average of 68 truckloads of aid per day, according to figures from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). That’s down from 168 truckloads per day in April and far below the 500 truckloads per day aid groups need.
The flow of aid to southern Gaza has decreased as the humanitarian need has grown. More than one million already displaced Palestinians fled Rafah after the invasion and flooded into other parts of southern and central Gaza. Most now live in ramshackle tent camps, use trenches as toilets, and have sewage flooding the streets.
Kogat, the Israeli military’s body that oversees aid distribution in the Gaza Strip, says there are no restrictions on trucks entering the country. The organization says that between May 2 and June 13, more than 8,600 trucks of all kinds, including aid and commercial goods, entered the Gaza Strip through all checkpoints, an average of 201 trucks per day. But much of that aid is left behind at checkpoints and never reaches its final destination.
Kogat spokesman Shimon Friedman said the UN was to blame for its cargo piling up in the Gaza strip at Kerem Shalom. He said the UN agency “has fundamental logistical problems that it has not been able to solve,” specifically pointing to a shortage of trucks.
The United Nations denies those allegations and says fighting between Israel and Hamas often makes it too dangerous for UN trucks inside Gaza to travel to Kerem Shalom, next to the Israeli border.
They also say deliveries have been slowed by the Israeli army having to give drivers permission to travel to the sites. Israel says the system is designed for the safety of drivers. Lack of security has led to crowds looting aid trucks on Gaza roads.
The new arrangement is intended to reduce the need to coordinate deliveries by allowing trucks 11 hours each day to enter and exit the checkpoint.
It was not immediately clear whether the military would provide security to protect relief trucks on the highway.
