About 90 aid trucks reach multiple areas in Gaza amid 'huge challenges': UN

By Merve Aydogan

HAMILTON, Canada (AA) - The UN on Thursday confirmed that almost 90 trucks loaded with aid have entered multiple locations in Gaza on Wednesday.

Citing the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) during a news conference, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said: "Yesterday, about 90 loaded trucks left the Kareem Shalom crossing to multiple destinations inside Gaza."

"They carry nutrition supplies, flour, medicines and other critical stocks that were allowed in," he said, and quoted UN relief chief Tom Fletcher's recent statement noting that humanitarians "continue to face huge challenges in getting goods out of the crossings to where they are needed in Gaza."

"This shipment is limited in quantity and nowhere near sufficient to meet the scale and scope of the needs of Gaza’s 2.1 million people," Dujarric said.

He further noted that "other supplies as basic as fresh food, hygiene items, water purification agents, and fuel to power hospitals have not been let in for over 80 days" by the Israeli authorities.

Saying that the UN is only allowed to bring in "nutrition products, some food ingredients, and medical supplies," Dujarric reported: "Of yesterday’s supplies, over 500 pallets with nutrition supplies were safely offloaded in UNICEF’s warehouse in Deir al Balah."

"This is nearly 20 truckloads. They include ready-to-use therapeutic food and lipid-based nutritional supplements. These life-saving supplies are now being unpacked and repackaged so that smaller loads can reach people in need via dozens of distribution points in Gaza," he said.