Amount of aid that has entered Gaza remains by far insufficient

Despite the tactical pauses Israel introduced last week to allow some safe passage for humanitarian convoys, the amount of aid that has entered Gaza remains by far insufficient for the starving population, and UN trucks continue to face impediments on their way to delivering aid.

The shortages are not limited to food on Monday, the UN was able to collect about 200,000 liters of much-needed fuel from the Kerem Shalom crossing, but the limited quantities that have entered Gaza in the last week are far from enough, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Water, sanitation and hygiene operations continue to be severely hampered by the lack of fuel.

Only 29,000 liters have been received so far, while some 70,000 litres of fuel are needed every day for emergency operations. According to the United Nations Agency for Palestine refugees a minimum of 600 trucks per day are needed to meet basic humanitarian needs for the more than 2 million people in the Gaza Strip.