A backlog of 1,150 truckloads of humanitarian aid is waiting to be collected from the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing in the southern Gaza Strip, Israel said on Wednesday, prompting the United Nations to say: "We're doing what we can."
COGAT, an Israeli defense ministry agency tasked with coordinating aid deliveries into Palestinian territories, said another 50 aid trucks are also awaiting collection from the Palestinian side of the Erez crossing in northern Gaza.
The United Nations said it is struggling to distribute aid within the enclave of 2.3 million people as the war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas enters its tenth month and law and order has broken down.
"Yes, the aid is being dropped off. But on the other side of that, you have utter lawlessness, plus you have continuing conflict," said UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric. "We are continuing to do our best to get that to those people who need it. Our colleagues in Gaza are not sitting on their hands."
He said that the UN trucks that manage to pick up aid "are doing it often at great cost, because they are being either looted or attacked by criminal elements," adding that: "Some aid is getting through, but very little."
(Reuters)