Humanitarian emergency: eyewitnesses: First relief supplies reach people in Gaza

After an almost three -month blockade of the Gaza Strip by Israel, the first aid deliveries have reached the needy population in the Palestinian area. 87 trucks with flour, food and medical needs drove into the interior of the coastal area on Thursday night, said Dschihad Islim, the Vice President of the Association of Private Peditors in Gaza. They headed the towns of Deir Al-Balah and Chan Junis in the south of the Gaza Strip, he added. A UN spokesman called the number of “about 90 trucks” and confirmed the content of the deliveries.

Some bakeries in these places began to bake bread with the preserved flour and distribute it to the residents, reported bakery owners and other eyewitnesses. Local and international helpers, however, emphasized that the quantities previously arrived only meant a drop on the hot stone. According to previous UN information, around 500 truck deliveries would be necessary every day to guarantee the supply of the approximately two million Palestinians in Gaza.

AMDSchad Schawa, the director of the Palestinian NGO network in Gaza, said that no help has continued to achieve the north of Gaza. However, the need is particularly high there. The trucks arrived so far would only be a fraction of the elementary need, he added.

Israel had lifted an almost three -month blockade of humanitarian aid on Sunday – some of the trucks that were then left into the sealed coastal area, but stood within the Gaza strip near the border crossing for days because the route proposed for them was too dangerous.

Israel had justified the blockade with the claim that Hamas would steal the relief goods and sell on the black market to finance their fighters and weapons. The UN, on the other hand, keep that Israel has not submitted any evidence of this.