Gaza’s 600-truck daily aid target never met since truce: UN
GAZA CITY
There has not been a single day on which a total of 600 humanitarian aid trucks were allowed to enter the Gaza Strip in a month, despite Israel’s commitments under the agreement, the United Nations has announced.
The war in Gaza, which lasted more than two years and killed more than 69,000 people, halted on Oct. 10 with a U.S.-brokered ceasefire. One of the terms of the agreement was to permit the entry of 600 aid trucks into Gaza each day. However, Israel continues to keep certain border crossings, including Rafah, closed and restrict aid deliveries, citing security concerns and other reasons.
At a press briefing, U.N. Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq was asked whether, in the month since the ceasefire, any day had seen 600 aid trucks reach Gaza.
“To my knowledge, no,” he replied.
Haq clarified that the figures they track only include trucks operated by the U.N. and its partners, which typically number around 150 per day, and that they do not have data on commercial or other trucks coordinating directly with Israel.
When asked how to prevent the ongoing obstruction of aid from becoming the “new normal” despite Israel’s commitments under the ceasefire, Haq responded, “One way to prevent this from becoming normalized is to keep raising it publicly and to highlight the continued hindrance to aid deliveries.”
He added that these obstacles are reported not only in the media but also to member states.
Haq emphasized that the U.N. is doing everything possible to deliver humanitarian aid, but acknowledged, “These restrictions have persisted for weeks and we are still far from the level of assistance that is required.”
Meanwhile, in a report marking the first month of the ceasefire, the BBC found that Israel has demolished more than 1,500 buildings in areas of the Gaza Strip under its control, citing newly released satellite imagery.
According to the report, entire neighborhoods under Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) control were leveled in less than a month, apparently through controlled demolitions.
The BBC noted that the actual number of destroyed structures may be higher due to gaps in satellite coverage.
Satellite images reviewed by the network revealed widespread destruction in neighborhoods east of Rafah and Khan Younis, as well as in parts of Gaza City.
In some instances, entire residential areas that appeared intact before the ceasefire were subsequently flattened. In eastern Khan Younis, the BBC highlighted homes in Abasan al-Kabira that were destroyed after the ceasefire took effect, and similar damage was observed in al-Bayuk, east of Rafah.
