Middle East: UNRWA pauses Gaza aid through key crossing
Published December 1, 2024last updated December 1, 2024
What you need to know
- UNWRA has said it is pausing aid deliveries through the main cargo crossing into Gaza
- Medics in Gaza say at least 15 have been killed in Israeli military strikes
- An Israeli airstrike in the occupied West Bank has reportedly killed several people
This is a rundown of developments from Israel, Lebanon, Gaza and other parts of the Middle East on December 1, 2024:
Israel has 'no excuse' to block Gaza aid, German diplomat says
There is no reason for Israel to hinder the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, a German diplomat said on Sunday.
Israel must "allow sufficient humanitarian access at any moment," Tobias Lindner, the deputy foreign affairs minister, said ahead of his trip to Egypt, according to the AFP news agency.
"Israel's right to legitimate self-defense finds its limits in international humanitarian rights," he added.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock made similar comments in November, accusing Israel of "constantly" reneging on its commitments.
Several killed in Israeli strike in West Bank: Palestinian news agency
An Israeli aircraft has fired on a vehicle in which some young men were traveling in the West Bank, killing several, the Palestinian WAFA news agency has reported.
The Israeli military said an "aircraft conducted a strike on terrorists in the area of Jenin."
Jenin is considered by Israel as a stronghold for Palestinian militants.
The occupied West Bank has experienced an increasing number of Israeli military operations since the most recent conflict in the Gaza Strip began last year, with more than 760 Palestinians killed, according to the Ministry of Health in Ramallah.
Israeli strikes kill several Palestinians
At least 15 Palestinians were killed by Israeli military strikes in Gaza on Sunday, medics in the Palestinian territory said.
They said six people in a house were killed in an airstrike in the central Gaza camp in Nuseirat, while a further three died in another attack in a home in Gaza City.
Two children were killed by a missile in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, while four other people were killed in an airstrike in Rafah, near the border with Egypt, medics told Reuters news agency.
The Health Ministry in the Hamas-run enclave said on Sunday that 44,429 people in the enclave had been killed in more than 13 months of war between Israel and Palestinian militants, which was triggered by a Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, in which some 1,200 people died.
The ministry put the number of wounded in Gaza at 105,250, including 47 deaths in the previous 24 hours.
UNRWA pauses aid deliveries though Kerem Shalom crossing
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has said it is suspending aid deliveries through the Kerem Shalom crossing after armed gangs looted recent convoys.
Kerem Shalom is the only crossing between Israel and Gaza that is designed for cargo shipments.
Announcing the suspension, UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini said the route to the crossing was too dangerous on the Gaza side.
Nearly 100 trucks traveling the route were looted in mid-November, and, Lazzarini said, a smaller shipment was stolen on Saturday.
In a post on X, Lazzarini largely blamed Israel for a "breakdown in law order" and the shortage of aid getting into Gaza.
Israel says it allows sufficient aid into the enclave and says UNRWA and other agencies are failing to deliver it.
Israel has also accused UNRWA of having allowed Hamas to infiltrate its ranks and passed legislation to sever ties with it last month.
UNRWA has denied the allegations.
tj/sms (AP, AFP, DPA, Reuters)