In the nearly 20 months since some 6,000 Hamas-led Gazan terrorists invaded Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the Jewish state has facilitated the delivery of close to 1.8 million tons of aid to the Strip, including 1.3 million tons of food, Israel said this weekend.
The figures were released amid warnings of “imminent famine” in the Strip by international aid agencies led by the U.N., alongside criticism of the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation that was launched a week ago to distribute aid in Gaza that circumvents Hamas.
The 1.8 million tons of aid was delivered in more than 90,000 trucks and 10,000 pallets, COGAT, the Israeli defense body in charge of coordinating aid to Gaza, said. The vast majority was transferred via land crossings while nearly 10,000 tons was sent via the sea and more than 7,000 tons was delivered by air.
During the Jan. 19-March 18 hostage-release ceasefire earlier this year, more than 25,000 aid trucks entered Gaza carrying some 450,000 tons of aid, COGAT said.
Hamas looted much of the aid during that time and used it to entrench its position.
Israel had barred supplies from entering Gaza for 11 weeks starting on March 2, demanding that Hamas release the 58 hostages it is holding, but then eased the blockade on May 19 in the face of mounting international pressure, including from the U.S. administration.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said on Sunday that it has distributed more than 4.7 million meals over the previous six days.
OCHA (U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) spokesperson Jens Laerke on Friday called Gaza “the hungriest place on Earth.”
“Another day, another U.N. official making slanderous allegations for political reasons,” COGAT tweeted in response this weekend. “The U.N. must stop acting like only aid delivered through its own channels qualifies as humanitarian assistance. Other organizations are successfully delivering aid on the ground, while the U.N. continues to issue grand statements instead of collecting and distributing the aid that is already waiting.”