The UN agency claims that Israel is blocking an aid mission to northern Gaza

The UN agency claims that Israel is blocking an aid mission to northern Gaza

Israel has consistently denied aid convoys to northern Gaza, according to the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA). Food shortages are worst in northern Gaza, where Israel focused its military offensive in the early days of the war.

Israeli authorities vetoed at least 27 of 81 aid missions requiring coordination north and south of the strip, between April 1 and April 19, UNRWA said in a report on Tuesday. The last time UNRWA was able to send food supplies to the area was on January 23.

The Israeli agency responsible for checking convoys entering Gaza told CNN earlier this month that it was “cooperating [in the north] with various humanitarian organizations” including UN agencies and regional actors.

Since early April, an average of 186 aid trucks have crossed into Gaza each day via the Kerem Shalom and Rafah land crossings, UNRWA added. As of April 8, UNRWA said it had delivered flour to nearly 400,000 families in southern Gaza. Before the war, about 500 supply trucks entered Palestinian territory every day.

Barely getting in: Human rights agencies have repeatedly warned that Israel’s strict restrictions on aid entering Gaza mean that aid is almost impossible.

UNRWA said there had been “little significant change in the amount of humanitarian supplies entering Gaza or improving access to the north.” Israeli agencies often blame the United Nations for failing to deliver aid in Gaza, saying last week that hundreds of aid trucks were piling up in Kerem Shalom.