![An humanitarian Aid truck moves at the Israeli side of the Kerem Shalom Crossing Point on May 19, 2025 in Southern Israel, Israel. [Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/GettyImages-2215337554-1.jpg?fit=920%2C613&ssl=1)
The UN said Monday that nine trucks carrying humanitarian aid “were cleared” to enter the Gaza Strip via the Kerem Shalom crossing after Israel temporarily eased a nearly three-month blockade, Anadolu reports.
UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher said the Israeli authorities had allowed the limited resumption of aid delivery after intensifying its military offensive.
“This is a welcome development that should remain in place,” Fletcher said in a statement. “But it is a drop in the ocean of what is urgently needed, and significantly more aid must be allowed into Gaza, starting tomorrow morning.”
According to the UN, Gaza needs at least 500 aid trucks per day to meet the population’s basic needs.
Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said five trucks, including food for babies, entered Gaza via Kerem Shalom — the first such delivery since March 2.
UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that nine trucks were “cleared to enter” via Kerem Shalom and are in the process of crossing. He said the trucks were carrying mostly nutrition supplies.
READ: Over 20 countries urge Israel to allow full resumption of aid into Gaza immediately
“They’ve crossed from Israel proper into the area from which the UN can pick the supplies up in Gaza. That part has not yet happened — given it’s late in the day, it’s very likely already dark, or soon to be dark there. Because of security concerns, we cannot operate under those conditions and pick them up,” he told reporters during a press briefing.
“Of course, nine trucks is better than no trucks, but we need a massive uptick in humanitarian aid,” Dujarric said. “We need a massive arrival of food, cooking oil, and fuel to meet these needs.”
Israel has kept all crossings into Gaza closed since March 2, deepening the enclave’s humanitarian crisis. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Sunday that a “basic quantity of food” would be allowed in to prevent a hunger crisis.
Israel’s brutal offensive on Gaza since October 2023 has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
Unless otherwise stated in the article above, this work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For other permissions, please contact us.
