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©(Photo by Anna Moneymaker / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Wednesday it is planning to flood starving Gaza with aid through a new crossing and a port just north of the besieged territory.
With Israel under severe international pressure to allow more food in, Gallant said it planned to ramp up aid deliveries to 500 trucks a day -- the pre-war figure cited by the UN.
"We plan to flood Gaza with aid and we are expecting to reach 500 trucks per day," Gallant told reporters.
He also vowed to "streamline security checks" that aid organizations had blamed for choking the flow through six months of war.
Israel promised last week it would open the Erez crossing in the north after a tense telephone call between Joe Biden and Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu in which the US president demanded "immediate action" on aid.
But it is understood the trucks will not use the crossing with Israeli media reporting that the government feared protests from far-right groups who are against any aid reaching Gaza.
Another route is being planned, Gallant said, to "reduce pressure on (the) Kerem Shalom" crossing further south. He did not say when it would happen.
Humanitarian groups have accused Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza, where UN experts say half the population is facing "catastrophic" food insecurity.
Israel denies the charges and has repeatedly blamed the UN and aid organizations for the distribution problems.
Gallant told reporters that Israel planned to bring the Port of Ashdod, half an hour north of Gaza, on stream shortly.
with AFP
With Israel under severe international pressure to allow more food in, Gallant said it planned to ramp up aid deliveries to 500 trucks a day -- the pre-war figure cited by the UN.
"We plan to flood Gaza with aid and we are expecting to reach 500 trucks per day," Gallant told reporters.
He also vowed to "streamline security checks" that aid organizations had blamed for choking the flow through six months of war.
Israel promised last week it would open the Erez crossing in the north after a tense telephone call between Joe Biden and Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu in which the US president demanded "immediate action" on aid.
But it is understood the trucks will not use the crossing with Israeli media reporting that the government feared protests from far-right groups who are against any aid reaching Gaza.
Another route is being planned, Gallant said, to "reduce pressure on (the) Kerem Shalom" crossing further south. He did not say when it would happen.
Humanitarian groups have accused Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza, where UN experts say half the population is facing "catastrophic" food insecurity.
Israel denies the charges and has repeatedly blamed the UN and aid organizations for the distribution problems.
Gallant told reporters that Israel planned to bring the Port of Ashdod, half an hour north of Gaza, on stream shortly.
with AFP
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