The Israeli defense forces said on Sunday they have withdrawn a division of troops from Khan Younis in southern Gaza to prepare for “future operations.”
Israel’s defense minister Yoav Gallant said its forces are getting ready for the proposed military operation in the northern city of Rafah, where about 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering.
The Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Jamie McGoldrick, said that hopefully, it will be a lot more secure in those areas and maybe people can start to go back to where they came from. “But it’s also a worrying issue in the sense that maybe they’re going out to regroup and get ready for the proposed Rafah incursion.”
Under immense international pressure, Israel had pledged last week to open two entries to increase the flow of aid into the war-torn Palestinian enclave. However, it is unclear when any changes in policy will materialize.
“Slowly but surely” Israelis are realizing the extent of the humanitarian crisis, especially in northern Gaza,” Jamie McGoldrick said in an interview to UN News. “Hopefully with all these pipelines opening…We can start to swamp and flood the place with food and other items, we can get ourselves ready with whatever comes next”.
McGoldrick said the UN humanitarians have only one major crossing point – Kerem Shalom – to Rafah, which allows 250 trucks a day. “We need to get up to about 500 plus a day. And in order to do that we’ve been asking since day one for more actual pipelines in from the Jordan pipeline right now, we’re only get 100 trucks a week.”
“We should be getting 30 to 50 trucks a day. And then in the north, Ashdod, the very well-functioning modern port, we are asking for that to be opened up again. And that could again bring us in another 100 trucks a day.”
“So those combined with Kerem Shalom, we would have almost 500 trucks a day, which would then satisfy the needs on the ground. And more importantly, in the north, where there is imminent famine,” added the top UN official.
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