Improved Flow of Aid to Gazans

For months the flow of aid to Gazan civilians has been a major problem, with much of the aid being hijacked by Hamas and other terrorists, or by criminal gangs. Some analysts think Hamas may have profited by $500,000,000 from selling aid on the black market.

But the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have now introduced a new method of improving the security of humanitarian aid convoys into Gaza, sending them along the IDF-controlled Philadelphi Corridor and the Gaza-Israel border road.

400 aid trucks in four convoys recently entered the Gaza Strip following these routes, which have produced a marked decrease in hijackings.

Israel’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) says that in the past week 1,025 aid trucks carrying food, water, medical supplies, and shelter equipment were taken into the area.

And 1,076 trucks were collected from the crossing points and distributed within Gaza to warehouses and shelters in coordination with aid organizations and the international community.

With Christmas approaching, the flow of aid included a shipment delivered yesterday (22nd December) on behalf of the Latin Patriarch’s delegation, showing one of the ways Israel has co-operated with Christians in order to ease conditions for the Christian communities in the Gaza Strip.

This short video by COGAT provides an update on the aid situation on the Gazan side of the Kerem Shalom Crossing.