Israel announced it will allow Arab countries to resume the airdrops of food into Gaza, after such operations were suspended for months, according to multiple reports.
The government decided to allow aid to be brought in through Jordan and Egypt and to deliver fuel for the United Nations’ critical facilities, Ynet News reported Thursday. CNN was among other outlets reporting that Arab neighbors would move into the Gaza Strip with aid.
Additionally, the World Central Kitchen organization has begun operating its kitchens again, according to the Jerusalem Post.
“When the UN wants to, it can. After criticism earlier this week, it suddenly transferred hundreds of trucks, despite claiming it was unable to do so until then,” a senior military source reportedly told the outlet. “According to all IDF estimates, there has been no change in the amount of food entering the Gaza Strip in recent weeks, and Hamas’s hunger campaign in Gaza is timed.”
The move comes after Israeli critics in recent days, including the World Health Organization, have warned civilians in Gaza are facing mass starvation, as the Hamas-controlled area has long been dependent on international aid for basic necessities. More than 100 humanitarian organizations signed a joint statement this week calling on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to restore the full flow of food, clean water, and medical supplies to Gaza.
Hamas claimed Wednesday that at least 10 people have died from starvation in the last 24 hours, according to the terrorist organization’s health ministry.
Netanyahu’s government has denied reports of mass starvation. It has accused Hamas of sabotaging an Israeli-U.S.-backed aid plan to distribute food and water to Gazans as an alternative to traditional aid distributions from the U.N. and other established international organizations, which are often suspected of being seized by Hamas.
The IDF claimed this week that the U.N. and aid agencies failed to deliver around 800 trucks carrying food and essential supplies inside Gaza to civilians because of disputes with Israel.
“We are providing humanitarian aid according to international law. The ones trying to sabotage this aid are Hamas and its people, who are willing to do everything to prevent our forces from dismantling infrastructure that could harm us and our citizens,” Israel’s President Isaac Herzog said during a visit to Gaza this week.
ISRAEL’S GAZA AID EFFORT HAS TURNED INTO A DEADLY SCRAMBLE FOR FOOD
Israel has faced growing pressure and possible sanctions from the international community over its war with Hamas, which escalated the regional conflict with its October 7, 2023, attack on an Israeli music festival that killed roughly 1,200 civilians.
France on Thursday announced it would soon recognize a Palestinian state, a move likely to put Israel in a weaker position as it jockeys for control over the Gaza Strip.