As international pressure increases on Israel to increase aid to the Gaza Strip, especially following the Israeli strike that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers, Israel will increase the pace of aid into Gaza and open another border crossing for transporting the aid, Israeli media reported on Sunday.
According to COGAT, 322 aid trucks entered Gaza on Sunday, the most since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war.
An Israeli government official stated, "322 humanitarian aid trucks were inspected and transferred to Gaza today. This is the highest number of aid trucks transferred to Gaza in one day since the beginning of the war."
Following the phone call between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden that discussed the death of seven aid workers and deliberations in Israel's cabinet, Israel is preparing to move an unprecedented amount of aid into Gaza in the following days before Eid al-Fitr and the end of Ramadan.
Increasing efforts to ensure aid enters Gaza
KAN news reported that Israel is expected to open another crossing in the northern Gaza Strip, near the Erez crossing, in the coming days, which will allow for a greater flow of humanitarian aid trucks into the Strip.
The Jordanian army is also expected to send a convoy of around 100 aid trucks carrying aid from the UN World Food Programme, and will cross through the Kerem Shalom crossing, KAN noted. Much of Jordanian aid had been airdropped or sent through aid truck convoys.
Egypt is also set to send more aid, increasing to approximately 300 aid trucks.
KAN also reported that the Ashdod port will open to bring humanitarian aid directly to Gaza. To this point, only flour supplies have entered through the port of Ashdod. According to the plan to increase aid, trucks will load supplies at the port of Ashdod and enter Gaza through the Kerem Shalom and Nitzana crossings.
Finally, because of the expected influx of aid, preparations are made to increase the rate of inspections at the Kerem Shalom crossings. KAN quoted an Israeli official saying that more than 600 trucks could be inspected daily.