UNRWA refutes Israel claims of reopening Karm Abu Salem crossing

UNRWA yesterday denied Israeli claims that the Karm Abu Salem crossing used to deliver humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza Strip had been opened, four days after the occupation had closed it for “security reasons”.

Earlier yesterday, the Israeli army issued a joint statement with COGAT, the defence ministry body that oversees Palestinian civil affairs, claiming that “trucks from Egypt carrying humanitarian aid, including food, water, shelter equipment, medicine and medical equipment donated by the international community are already arriving at the crossing.”

The statement added that the Beit Hanoun (Erez) is also operating to process aid deliveries to Gaza.

However, UNRWA spokeswoman Juliette Touma told AFP “the crossing is still not open”, adding that no aid is entering the besieged Gaza Strip.

“We are calling for their reopening. We normally get fuel through Rafah not Karm,” Touma said.

“There’s not been humanitarian supplies for the past three days. We have started rationing fuel,” she said, adding Gaza needed 300,000 litres of fuel a day for humanitarian purposes.

“We’re not receiving any aid into the Gaza Strip,” said Scott Anderson, deputy director of UNRWA affairs in Gaza, in a post on X.

“The Rafah crossing area has ongoing military operations – there have been continued bombardments in this area throughout the day,” he added.

READ: Blinken tours Karm Abu Salem aid Crossing as tank fire rings out from Gaza

On Tuesday, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini called for the crossings to “be reopened without any delay” and reiterated the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s call to reach “an agreement on a long-awaited ceasefire” adding that “the recent advance of Israeli forces in Rafah is creating more anxiety, bringing chaos and forcing people to flee again and again.”

“Currently, an average of 200 people leave Rafah every hour to Khan Yunis and the central areas. The Al-Mawasi area is crowded with more than 400,000 people,” he said, noting that “it is not safe and does not have the necessary facilities to accommodate more people.”

Rafah has been a vital conduit for humanitarian aid since the start of the war and is the only place where people can enter and exit Gaza, including for medical evacuations. Israel now controls all of Gaza’s border crossings for the first time since it withdrew troops and settlers from the territory nearly two decades ago.

The Palestinian Health Ministry says at least 46 patients and wounded people who had been scheduled to leave for medical treatment have been left stranded.