“From life-saving medical supplies to toys and chocolate croissants,” Multiple Articles reported, “Washington Post“The Israeli authorities refused to allow it to cross into Gaza, among other aid, during the six months that followed the beginning of the war.
The newspaper reported that Israel is under increasing pressure to increase its aid to Gaza, as its military operations and siege have led to mass displacement, hunger and disease. In recent days, the Israeli authorities said they had increased the number of food and aid trucks entering the Strip, after US President Joe Biden warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that American support for Israel depends on the measures it takes to protect civilians and aid workers.
Regarding the Israeli restrictions, the newspaper quoted Shaina Lu, spokeswoman for the Norwegian Refugee Council in the Palestinian territories, as saying: “What is happening is unprecedented and relief agencies have never witnessed before.”
According to the newspaper, aid groups say that preventing and restricting the entry of aid, along with attacks on aid workers, are killing Palestinians, accusations that Israel denies.
The Washington Post contacted 25 relief organizations, United Nations agencies, and donor countries about the types of aid they tried to bring into Gaza. The newspaper found that food, water and blankets do not require approvals, but agencies submit requests for materials or items they believe have a chance of being rejected, such as communications equipment and sanitation or shelter materials.
Donors told the newspaper that pre-dispatch approvals and border inspections were inconsistent, with some items being rejected in one case but approved in others. In some cases, organizations were able to overturn denials on appeal, while other requests remained unanswered.
The Coordination Unit of Government Activities in the Territories, the Israeli military agency responsible for coordinating aid inside Gaza, did not respond to the newspaper’s requests for comment.
The newspaper monitored a list of items that the United Nations and other relief agencies say the Israeli authorities have prevented from entering Gaza at least once since October 7.
These items include anesthetic drugs, animal feed, cardiac catheters, chemical water quality test kits, chocolate croissants, crutches, field hospital boxes, bulletproof vests and helmets for relief workers, water pipe repair kits, generators for hospitals, tents, sleeping pads, and post-its. Reproductive equipment, medical thread needed for reproductive operations, medical scissors needed for children, microbiological water testing kits, mobile water desalination units with solar energy system and generators.
Prohibited items also include nail clippers among hygiene supplies, oxygen tubes, oxygen cylinders, power supply equipment, solar panels, electric and solar-powered lamps, solar-powered medical refrigerators, spare parts for pumps and generators, stone fruits, and surgical tools for doctors. Water tap holder sets, tent poles, and toys in wooden boxes.
The Israeli authorities also prohibited the entry of ultrasound equipment, ventilators, water filters and purification tablets, water pumps, wheelchairs, glucose meters, syringes and other medical equipment.
According to the newspaper, Israel has imposed a land, air and sea blockade on Gaza since 2007. This blockade included regulating the entry of “dual-use” items into Gaza, which are those that are mostly of a civilian nature but can also be used militarily, such as construction materials, communications equipment. And chemicals. Israel says these restrictions are necessary to stifle Hamas’ military apparatus.
The newspaper quoted aid groups as saying that Israel’s list of dual-use items, when it comes to Gaza, far exceeds internationally recognized standards for such materials.
The Washington Post explained that since October 7, Israel has imposed a complete blockade, and restrictions on the type of materials that can enter have expanded significantly beyond dual-use materials, as many say.
Speaking to the newspaper, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in the Palestinian Territories, Jamie McGoldrick, attributed the slowdown in the aid delivery process to “limited scanning machines and working hours at border inspection sites,” explaining that “if one item is rejected during the inspection, the truck will be returned.” “In its entirety.”
Earlier this year, children’s insulin pens were denied entry after a mixed goods truck was apparently turned away because of solar panels, McGoldrick said.
McGoldrick explained, “It is natural that after five and a half months of a crisis of this kind, the existing systems would be more prepared to deal with it, but in reality, they are not, and that is why we are suffering.”
According to the newspaper, the Office for the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories in turn accused UN agencies of delaying the delivery of aid. Last March, in response to a video by UN Secretary-General António Guterres showing miles of trucks parked at the Rafah border crossing, the Office for the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories said on social media that the UN “must increase logistics and stop dumping… Blame Israel for its failures.
Overall, the agency says 22,105 trucks were allowed into Gaza between October 7 and April 10, an average of about 118 trucks per day or about a fifth of the number that entered before the war.
The Office for the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories said this week that Israel is “increasing” aid to Gaza, and that more than 1,200 aid trucks entered Gaza within three days. Between mid-February and mid-March, says the Office for the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories, 19 trucks loaded with medical supplies entered the Gaza Strip.
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