Hamas Blocking Humanitarian Aid to North Gaza, Says Israel

Jerusalem, 26 November, 2023 (TPS) -- Israeli authorities accused Hamas of blocking humanitarian aid deliveries to northern Gaza on Sunday as 200 trucks carrying food, water and medicine entered the Strip.

In a statement posted on X, formerly called Twitter, Israel’s Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) wrote, “A Hamas checkpoint blocked the trucks delivering humanitarian aid to the residents of northern Gaza. To Hamas, residents of Gaza are their last priority.”

The tweet included a photo showing a long line of trucks and ambulances inside Gaza.

COGAT is a unit within the Israeli Defense Ministry that coordinates civilian issues between the Israeli government, the Israel Defense Forces, international organizations, diplomats, and the Palestinian Authority.

A convoy of 200 trucks delivering humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip through Egypt’s Rafah border crossing earlier in the day. COGAT said dozens of trucks and six ambulances were earmarked for northern Gaza even though civilians in that part of area were warned to evacuate before Israel launched its ground invasion.

The trucks are first inspected at the Nitzana border crossing between Israel and Egypt before continuing on to the Rafah crossing.

A temporary four-day ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas terrorist organization went into effect at 7 a.m. on Friday.

As part of the deal approved by the Israeli Cabinet on Wednesday, Hamas is to release 12 to 13 hostages each day of the truce. The release of every additional 10 hostages will result in one additional day in the pause in combat.

Under the agreement, the Israel Defense Forces is to refrain from using surveillance drones in Gaza for six hours each day of the ceasefire. Israel will also allow fuel to enter the Strip during that time and dramatically increase the volume of goods permitted into the enclave.

At least 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on Oct. 7. Another 240 men, women, children and soldiers were taken back to Gaza as hostages. Some people remain unaccounted for as Israeli authorities continue to identify bodies and search for human remains.