UN says lawlessness in Gaza impedes aid via Kerem Shalom despite Israel’s military pause

UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations said on June 18 it has been unable to distribute aid in the Gaza Strip from the Israel-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing because of lawlessness and panic among hungry people in the area, despite Israel’s daytime pause in military activity.

Israel’s military said on June 16 there would be a daily pause in its attacks, until further notice, along the road that leads from Israel via the Kerem Shalom crossing to Salah al-Din Road and northwards in Gaza.

The UN welcomed the move, its spokesman Farhan Haq said on June 18, but added that “this has yet to translate into more aid reaching people in need”. He said the area between Kerem Shalom and Salah al-Din Road was very dangerous.

“Fighting is not the only reason for being unable to pick up aid... The lack of any police or rule of law in the area makes it very dangerous to move goods there,” he said.

“But we are ready to engage with all parties to ensure that aid reaches people in Gaza, and we’ll continue to work with the authorities and with security forces, trying to see what can be done to have security conditions.

“When aid gets to a place, people are starving and they’re worried that this may be the last food that they see,” he added. “They have to be assured that there’s going to be a regular flow of goods so that there’s not a panic when we get to the area.”

The United Nations and aid groups have long complained of the dangers of and obstacles to getting aid in and distributing it throughout Gaza, where the UN had warned a famine is looming.

Since the Israel-Hamas war began more than eight months ago, aid for 2.3 million Palestinians has primarily entered through two crossings into southern Gaza – the Rafah crossing from Egypt and the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel.

But deliveries were disrupted when Israel stepped up its military operations in Rafah in May with the stated aim of routing remaining units of Hamas fighters. Egypt closed the Rafah crossing due to the threat posed to humanitarian work and has routed a backlog of aid and fuel via Kerem Shalom.

Mr Haq said on June 18 that the Rafah crossing remained closed and there was limited access via Kerem Shalom. In Gaza’s north, he said the Erez crossing was not accessible due to an escalation of fighting, while the West Erez and Zikim crossings were operational. REUTERS