Israel opens Gaza aid station ahead of US deadline

JERUSALEM: The Israeli army announced on Tuesday (November 12) the opening of an additional aid station to Gaza, on the eve of a US-imposed deadline to improve humanitarian conditions for Palestinians in the war-torn area.

“As part of the effort and commitment to increase the volume and routes of assistance to the Gaza Strip, the ‘Kissufim’ crossing was opened today,” the army said in a joint statement with COGAT, the Israeli Defense Ministry responsible is for civil cases. in the Palestinian territories.

“The operation includes the delivery of food, water, medical supplies and shelter equipment to central and southern Gaza,” they said, adding that the army, COGAT and the Ministry of Defense were involved.

“The IDF (Israeli Army) will continue to operate through COGAT in accordance with international law to facilitate and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip.”

Last month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke warned Israel it had until November 13 to improve aid to Gaza or risk withholding any military aid from the United States, Israel’s biggest supporter.

The letter was sent weeks before the November 5 US presidential election won by Donald Trumpwho has promised to give Israel a freer hand.

Although outgoing President Joe Biden had repeatedly urged Israel to provide more humanitarian aid and protect civilians, he has mostly refrained from using leverage such as cutting off weapons.

Kissufim, near a kibbutz across from southern Gaza that was attacked in the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack that sparked the war, has been largely disused, except by the military, since Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005.

Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed more than 43,603 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to data from the Hamas-run Health Ministry, which the United Nations considers reliable.