UNITED NATIONS, Feb 1 (APP): About 70 trucks were allowed to enter the Gaza Strip from Israel Thursday, but aid supplies inside the territory are still dwindling, the Office of the U.N. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO), reported.
UNSCO said the trucks entered Gaza through the Karni and Sufa crossings, and Israeli authorities informed the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) at 11 p.m. that they could bring in trucks through the Kerem Shalom crossing today.
UN spokesperson, Farhan Haq, told media persons that while WFP only had time to prepare one truck for transport, UNRWA managed to have 12 trucks containing milk and rice ready to go.
But when those trucks arrived at Kerem Shalom this morning, the crossing was closed and all 13 trucks had to return to the town of Ashdod. Returning the trucks costs UNRWA more than $8,000.
UNSCO also reports that fuel supplies continue to go to Gaza as planned, although electricity cuts are ongoing, and about 40 per cent of the estimated 1.4 million Palestinians living in Gaza do not have regular access to water.