Aid to Gaza dropped to lowest level since October 2023

Hundreds of Palestinians, who are struggling with hunger due to Israeli attacks on Gaza for more than a year, are seen waiting to buy bread from the only bakery in the area because of the closure of border crossings and the limited access to aid in Deir Al Balah, Gaza on October 25, 2024. [Ashraf Amra – Anadolu Agency]

The amount of humanitarian aid that entered Gaza fell to its lowest levels in October, according to data from Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).

COGAT, the Israeli occupation army’s arm which oversees aid shipments into Gaza, admitted in a report submitted to the Israeli Supreme Court to the drop, where 26,399 tonnes of aid entered Gaza since in October, compared to 87,445 tonnes of aid brought in to the enclave in September, and an average of 95,513 tonnes allowed in each month this year.

COGAT claimed the decline in aid was attributed to reduced international deliveries rather than restrictions, claiming that hundreds of aid trucks were still on the Gaza side of the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing but no one was taking them. Yet, data from COGAT itself indicates the crossing has been closed for more than half of October, during Jewish holidays.

According to the data, aid that entered the Strip included 19,855 tonnes of food, 3,810 tonnes of building materials, 1,244 tonnes of fuel, 635 tonnes of medical supplies, 260 tonnes of water and dozens of tonnes of other materials.

In October, 859 food trucks entered the Gaza Strip, compared to the monthly average this year of 3,591 food trucks.

Israel has imposed a strict siege on the Gaza Strip since it launched its genocidal bombing campaign on the enclave in October last year. Since then it has closed all crossings into the Strip and stopped the entry of vital aid. Aid that has been allowed into Gaza has been bombed.

Read: Israel bans humanitarian aid into northern Gaza

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