Palestinian Red Crescent: No civilian in Gaza has yet received aid

(Patria) - The Palestinian Red Crescent announced yesterday that Gaza residents have not yet received aid that crossed the border this week and that sending such a small number of trucks is a 'call to kill' due to the risk of stampedes and violent looting.

- No civilian has received aid yet. Most of the trucks are still in Kerem Shalom at the border, but they have not reached Gaza - Younis Al Khatib, president of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, told reporters.

He points out that it is very difficult to prevent a stampede or looting that could occur.

The head of the Palestinian Red Crescent said yesterday that his organization's activities in Gaza could be suspended in a few days given the lack of new aid, as well as the shortage of fuel, which has reduced the capacity of ambulances to one-third.

Flour and other necessities began arriving in some of Gaza's most vulnerable areas on Thursday after Israel allowed some trucks to pass, but the aid is nowhere near enough to compensate for the shortage caused by the 11-week Israeli blockade, Palestinian officials said.

Israel announced that it had allowed 100 trucks with baby food and medical equipment on Wednesday, two days after announcing the first easing of the blockade following increasing international pressure and warnings of possible starvation in Gaza.

When asked how long his organization could continue to operate in the coastal enclave, the president of the Palestinian Red Crescent replied to reporters in Geneva: "It's a matter of time. It could be days".

- We are running out of fuel. The capacity of the ambulances we use is now one-third - he said, adding that gasoline vehicles have already stopped working, but some, provided by the United Nations, use solar energy.

The Palestinian Red Crescent is part of the world's largest humanitarian network, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and provides medical care in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, occupied by Israel.

Israel, which has been at war with Hamas, the dominant militant group in Gaza, since 2023, has repeatedly justified its control over humanitarian aid entering the enclave, saying there is enough food there and denying accusations that it is causing starvation.