Official: Israel controls medical aid entering Gaza Strip

Israel is controlling the entry of vital medical aid to the besieged Gaza Strip, the spokesman for the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Ashraf Al-Qudra, said yesterday.

Al-Qudra called for the health system in Gaza to be protected so it can carry out its vital service, noting that the volume of medical aid entering hospitals has not reached the desired level.

He stressed the need to facilitate the transfer of hundreds of wounded Palestinians out of Gaza in order to save their lives.

Though medical aid was allowed to enter the Strip during the seven-day temporary truce, Israel vetted and controlled which items were allowed into the enclave and stipulated where they could be delivered. This left Gaza City and other areas in northern Gaza largely cut off from medical and other humanitarian supplies even during the humanitarian pause.

Read: Humanitarian pause not enough for aid delivery, UN says as it urges ceasefire in Gaza