Urgent| To the echoes of occupation tank fire… "Blinken" He inspects the Kerem Shalom crossing

Tank fire echoed from the Gaza Strip on Wednesday as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited an aid checkpoint where he heard from Israeli officials including Defense Minister Yoav Galant about efforts to increase aid to the Palestinian Gaza Strip just a few hundred meters away. The Zionist entity.

Karam Abu Salem

"Blinken" He got his first close-up look at the Strip after six months of war while touring a compound at the Kerem Shalom crossing bordered by thick concrete walls where aid trucks heading to Gaza are searched, a process that aid groups complained was a major bottleneck.

Bags of canned chickpeas, rice, potatoes and toilet paper, some bearing the logo of the United Nations World Food Program or the World Central Kitchen aid group, were placed on pallets waiting to enter Gaza.

Soldiers walked around The occupation forces carried automatic weapons in the area known as the “inspection cell”.

The occupation forces sought to show that they are not preventing aid to Gaza, especially since US President Joe Biden issued a stark warning to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Saying that Washington’s policy could change if Israel fails to take steps to address civilian harm, human suffering and safety, of aid workers.

This move came after seven aid workers at WCK were killed in an Israeli raid, Which has increased anger over the harsh conditions experienced by Palestinians in Gaza.

US officials and relief organizations say that some progress has been made, but they warn that it is insufficient, amid severe warnings of imminent famine among Gaza’s population. 2.3 million people.

The war began when the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, the Zionist entity, attacked Israel in occupied Palestine on October 7, killing 1,200 people and capturing 253 others, according to Israeli statistics.

In response, the Zionist entity launched a brutal attack on the Gaza Strip, killing more than 34,000 Palestinians, local health authorities say, in a bombardment that turned the Strip into a barren wasteland.

The Kerem Shalom crossing was closed after October 7, 2023, when the Zionist entity imposed a tight siege on Gaza, but it was reopened to movement. Limited passage last December, and in addition to the crossings at Kerem Shalom and nearby Rafah on the border with Egypt, Israel recently said it was opening the crossings into northern Gaza to aid trucks.

Shimon Friedman, international media spokesman for the Office for the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories, an agency of the Israeli Ministry of Defense charged with coordinating aid deliveries to the Palestinian territories, said that Israeli officials could inspect 55 trucks every hour at the crossing. Karam Abu Salem and work from morning until sunset.

Friedman said that the bottleneck for delivering aid lies inside Gaza and not on the Israeli side.

There were at least 26 trucks. Carrying humanitarian aid waiting on the road outside the Kerem Shalom checkpoint, waiting to enter.

A Reuters witness also saw dozens of military vehicles and tanks in a field next to the road leading to the Kerem crossing. Abu Salem.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that Blinken discussed earlier Wednesday with Netanyahu “the improvement in the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza since the call.” President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu on April 4 stressed the importance of accelerating and sustaining this improvement.

Before arriving in Israel, Blinken said that Israel needs to do more on aid, including by establishing a mechanism To avoid conflicts with humanitarian agencies and ensure that there are enough drivers and trucks inside Gaza to deliver aid where it is needed.

A clear list of humanitarian items is also needed to ensure that aid shipments are not blocked Arbitrary entry into Gaza during Israeli inspections.

While Blinken’s visit focused on delivering more aid to the Palestinians in Gaza, Washington also warned Israel not to go ahead with the planned attack on the southern city of Rafah.

Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel would carry out an operation against the Palestinian resistance in Rafah regardless of whether a ceasefire agreement was reached and the prisoners released.

The United Nations Humanitarian Aid Coordinator said Martin Griffiths said on Tuesday that an Israeli ground operation in Rafah “is on the near horizon.” He said in a statement that Israeli improvements to aid access to Gaza “cannot be used to prepare for or justify a comprehensive military attack on Rafah".

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