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US says it will not limit Israeli arms transfers after some improvements in aid flows to Gaza
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US says it will not limit Israeli arms transfers after some improvements in aid flows to Gaza

Aid levels remain well below US benchmarks. Access to northern Gaza remains restricted and Israel continues its intervention. Laws against UNRWA.

Israel launched a major attack last month It is in the north where Hamas militants are said to be regrouping. The operation killed hundreds of people and displaced tens of thousands.

Throughout October and the first days of November, Israel did not allow food to enter the area where tens of thousands of civilians remained, despite evacuation orders.

Last week, Israel allowed 11 trucks to go to Beit Hanoun, one of the hardest-hit cities in the north. But the World Food Organization said soldiers at a checkpoint forced their trucks to unload their cargo before reaching shelters in the town.

On Tuesday, COGAT, the Israeli military agency responsible for humanitarian aid to Gaza, announced it had authorized new deliveries of food and water to Beit Hanoun a day in advance. Again, WFP said that while it tried to send 14 trucks, only three trucks could reach the city “due to delays in obtaining movement permits and crowds along the route.” It was stated that when he tried to deliver the rest on Tuesday, Israel did not allow it.

According to Israeli data, aid to all of Gaza dropped in October, with only 34,000 tons of food entering; this figure was only a third of the previous month.

UN agencies say much less aid is getting through because of Israeli restrictions, ongoing fighting and lawlessness on the Gaza side that makes collecting and distributing aid difficult.

According to Israel’s official figures, an average of 57 trucks a day entered Gaza in October and an average of 75 trucks a day in November. The UN said it had received only 39 trucks a day since the beginning of October.

COGAT said 900 truckloads of aid were waiting uncollected on the Gaza side of the southern Kerem Shalom crossing point.

In response to the aid groups’ report, COGAT said: “Organisations should focus on distributing the aid that awaits them before giving grades.”

UNRWA spokeswoman Louise Wateridge said the military did not coordinate the arrival of aid trucks to the stacked cargo. “If we’re not given safe passage to go and get it… it’s not going to get to the people who need it,” he said.

COGAT blamed the decline in October on the closure of crossings for Jewish holidays and ceremonies commemorating the anniversary of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack that triggered the war.

The war began when Hamas-led militants raided southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping about 250. There are still nearly 100 hostages in Gaza, and a third of them are believed to be dead.

According to local health authorities, Israeli bombardment and land occupation have killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, more than half of whom were women and children; However, it does not say how many of those killed were militants. Nearly 90 percent of the population of 2.3 million has been displaced, with hundreds of thousands of people crammed into squalid tent camps with little food, water and sanitary facilities.

United States billions of dollars rushed to military aid During the war, he was pressuring Israel to provide more aid to Gaza.

Trump promises to end wars in the Middle East without telling how. He was a staunch defender of Israel in his previous term, and Netanyahu says they have spoken three times since Trump won the White House last week.

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Frankel was reporting from Jerusalem and Magdy was reporting from Cairo. Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Colleen Long and Ellen Knickmeyer in Washington contributed.

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