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According to the Israeli army, about 200 people blocked the border crossing and abandoned trucks heading to the Gaza Strip several hundred meters from the border. “In times of war you don’t help the enemy, and the people of Gaza are among the enemies,” the Israeli newspaper Ha’arec quoted a protester as saying.
“We don’t want anything to go to Gaza, because everything that goes to Gaza goes directly to the terrorists,” protester Shoši Strikowska told AFP.
Photo: Alexandre Meneghini, Reuters
Sunday blockade of the Kerem Shalom border crossing
This week’s protests have significantly disrupted traffic at the Kerem Shalom border crossing, which, other than Rafah, is the only point from which humanitarian aid can enter the Gaza Strip.
According to CNN, only nine trucks passed through the crossing on Wednesday, none on Thursday and Friday due to protests, and on Saturday the crossing was closed for a holiday.
The shipment of medicine for the hostages has crossed Israeli control and is on its way to the Gaza Strip
On Sunday, the blockade was repeated, although the Israeli army tried to prevent the protest by declaring the Kerem Shalom border crossing and its surroundings a military exclusion zone – civilians are not legally allowed to enter the area, according to the Times of Israel website ( ToI).
Photo: Alexandre Meneghini, Reuters
Opponents of humanitarian aid to Gaza in Kerem Shalom are trying to break through the Israeli army’s barrier. Picture from Thursday
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) expressed concern this week about the impact of the blockade on the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip.
“The inability to transport food, water and medical assistance will worsen the already dire humanitarian situation,” the office said.
⚡ For the fifth day in a row, Israelis gather at the Kerem Shalom border crossing to prevent trucks carrying humanitarian aid from entering the Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/4GO0jIVryP
– WarWatch (@WarWatchs) January 28, 2024
The lack of humanitarian aid reaching the Gaza Strip has been criticized by authorities and UN agencies since the conflict began in October. Israel claims that the effectiveness of aid is reduced by problems in its distribution among the population.
Humanitarian aid to the approximately 2.4 million residents of the Gaza Strip is provided through two border crossings – the Kerem Shalom border crossing in southern Israel and the Rafah border crossing in Egypt.
Around 1,200 people were murdered in Israel during the Hamas attack on October 7th. Palestinian terrorists also kidnapped 253 hostages, 132 of whom remain held captive in Gaza, ToI noted. According to Hamas, Israel’s military retaliation in the Gaza Strip caused over 25,000 casualties.
Israel opened the Kerem Shalom border crossing for the passage of aid supplies to the Gaza Strip
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