Trucks loaded with humanitarian aid begin entering Gaza through Kerem Shalom border crossing

GAZA - Trucks loaded with humanitarian aid began entering the Gaza Strip on Sunday morning through the Kerem Shalom border crossing, according to local Palestinian sources.

Eyewitnesses told Xinhua the aid convoy initially gathered at the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing under the supervision of the Egyptian Red Crescent.

The trucks then proceeded to the Kerem Shalom crossing, where they underwent inspection by Israeli authorities before being allowed into the besieged enclave, the sources said.

The flow of humanitarian assistance comes amid growing international appeals to facilitate urgent aid delivery to Gaza, where residents continue to face severe shortages of food, medicine, and other essential supplies.

Airdrops of humanitarian aid resumed Saturday over various locations in the northern Gaza Strip, but the approach was criticized by head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees Philippe Lazzarini as "the most expensive and inefficient way" to deliver humanitarian assistance.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement Sunday morning that to increase the scale of humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip, a local "tactical pause" in military activity will take place for humanitarian purposes from 10:00 to 20:00, starting Sunday.

"The pause will begin in the areas where the IDF is not operating: Al Mawasi, Deir al-Balah, and Gaza City, every day until further notice," it said.

Additionally, from 6:00 am to 11:00 pm, designated secure routes will be open to facilitate the safe movement of UN and humanitarian convoys distributing aid throughout the Gaza Strip.

Also on Sunday, Gaza's health authorities said in a brief statement that hospitals in Gaza recorded six new deaths due to starvation and malnutrition in the past 24 hours, raising the number of such fatalities since October 2023 to 133, including 87 children.

"In Gaza, people who have survived bombs and bullets are now starving," the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said on social media platform X on Sunday.

"Medical and humanitarian workers are fainting while on duty. UNRWA staff are struggling to find food yet continue to work," it said, adding that a flow of aid at scale, under the coordination of the United Nations, including UNRWA, is urgently needed.