About 90 truckloads of aid had entered Gaza by Thursday, according to the United Nations, the first major influx of food that Israel has allowed in after a two-month blockade that deepened the humanitarian crisis in the territory.
The U.N. humanitarian affairs office and the Israeli military both confirmed that the aid deliveries were reaching warehouses and other points inside Gaza after days of delays. But aid officials said the shipment was a fraction of what was needed.
“Desperately needed aid is finally trickling in — but the pace is far too slow. We need more aid trucks coming in daily,” the World Food Program, one of the main U.N. agencies operating in Gaza, wrote on social media.
Israel’s two-month ban on the entry of food and fuel led to widespread hunger in the enclave, which has been devastated by more than a year of war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Israel justified the ban as an attempt to force Hamas to surrender and release the remaining hostages. Israeli officials have asserted that Hamas has largely diverted or made money off aid deliveries, a claim disputed by international aid groups.
Israel conditioned the resumption of assistance on the United Nations signing off on a new mechanism in which they would distribute relief in areas under Israeli security control. The U.N. and many other aid nonprofits refused, saying it would fundamentally compromise their work.
After weeks of rising international pressure, Israel finally announced on Sunday that it would let U.N. agencies send small amounts of food into the enclave under the old system. But wrangling between Israel and the United Nations further delayed the provision of aid for days.
OCHA, the U.N. agency that coordinates humanitarian relief, said Israel had stipulated that their trucks take an extremely perilous route through Gaza. U.N. officials believed that unless the plans were changed, looting was “highly likely” to ensue, the agency said.
A spokesman for the Israeli military agency that works with the aid agencies — known as COGAT — did not respond to a request for comment.
Israeli officials have said they hope to set up the new aid system, bypassing the United Nations, in the coming days.
In a televised news conference on Wednesday night, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, vowed once again to escalate the war imminently unless Hamas agreed to Israel’s conditions for a cease-fire.
Palestinians would be evacuated to a “sterile zone” that would be “Hamas free” in southern Gaza, where humanitarian aid would be provided, he said.
“At the end of the effort, all areas of the Gaza Strip will be under Israel’s security control — and Hamas will be totally defeated,” Mr. Netanyahu said.
Aaron Boxerman is a Times reporter covering Israel and Gaza. He is based in Jerusalem.
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