U.N. struggling to deliver aid to Palestinians in Gaza

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza — The U.N. said Wednesday it was trying to get the aid that has entered Gaza this week into the hands of Palestinians amid delays because of fears of looting and Israeli military restrictions.

Under international pressure, Israel has allowed dozens of aid trucks into Gaza after blocking all food, medicine, fuel and other material for nearly three months. But the supplies have been sitting on the Gaza side of the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel, and the U.N. has been unable to bring them in further to distribute.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the majority of supplies that had entered since Monday had been loaded onto U.N. trucks, but they could not take them out of the crossing area. He said the road that the Israeli military had given them permission to use was too unsafe. Talks were underway for an alternative, he said.

Israeli strikes continued across Gaza on Wednesday.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on strikes in the southern city of Khan Younis. It says it targets Hamas infrastructure and accuses Hamas terrorists of operating from civilian areas.

Israeli troops also have surrounded two of northern Gaza’s last functioning hospitals.

The delays in distributing aid pointed to the turmoil in Gaza and increased regulations from the Israeli military. COGAT, the Israeli defense body overseeing aid for Gaza, said trucks were entering Wednesday, but it was unclear if that aid would continue deeper into Gaza for distribution.

After supplies enter at Kerem Shalom, aid workers are required to unload them and reload them onto their own trucks for distribution.

Antoine Renard, the World Food Program’s country chief for Palestine, said 78 trucks were waiting, and the U.N. was talking with Israeli officials “to ensure that we have a safe routing.”

He told The Associated Press that “we need to ensure that we will not be looted” and that “when we do deliver, we use our own network for distribution.”

Looting has plagued aid deliveries in the past.

A U.N. official and another humanitarian worker said the Israeli military had designated a highly insecure route known to have looters. The military also set a short window for trucks to come to Kerem Shalom and rejected a number of individual truck drivers, forcing last-minute replacements, they said. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press.

COGAT did not immediately respond when asked for comment.

A few dozen Israeli activists opposed to Israel’s decision to allow aid into Gaza while Hamas still holds Israeli hostages attempted to block aid trucks but were kept back by Israeli police.

Pope Leo XIV called for aid to reach Gaza and for an end to the “heartbreaking” toll on its people during his first general audience in St. Peter’s Square.

The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led terrorists attacked southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251 others. The terrorists are still holding 58 captives, around a third believed to be alive, after most were returned in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count.

On Tuesday, the United Kingdom. suspended free trade talks with Israel over its intensifying assault as the U.K., Canada and France promised “concrete” steps to prompt Israel to halt the war. The European Union was reviewing an EU pact governing trade ties with Israel over its conduct of the war, according to its foreign policy chief.

Israel has vowed to continue the war until all hostages are released and Hamas is defeated, exiled and disarmed. Hamas says it is prepared to release the hostages in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from the territory and an end to the war. It rejects demands for exile and disarmament.