Six aid trucks enter north Gaza in pilot to bypass Hamas

Six aid trucks directly entered the northern Gaza Strip early Tuesday in a pilot program meant to prevent the Hamas terrorist group from hijacking the supplies, the Israeli army said.

“By government directives, six humanitarian aid trucks containing aid from the World Food [Program] entered the northern Gaza Strip via the ‘96th gate’ on the security fence last night [Tuesday],” the Israel Defense Forces announced, adding that a security check was first carried out at the Kerem Shalom crossing to the south.

The results of the pilot will be presented to government officials.

On Dec. 15, Israel’s Security Cabinet approved the opening of the Kerem Shalom crossing for the transfer of aid to the Strip after intense U.S. and international pressure. All the Israeli crossings to Gaza had been shuttered after the Oct. 7 massacre, with only Egypt’s Rafah crossing from Sinai remaining open.

The smaller Nitzana crossing between Israel and Sinai has also been used for inspections.

Hamas has been stealing up to 60% of the aid entering the Gaza Strip.

The War Cabinet decided in late February to start transferring humanitarian supplies directly to the northern Gaza Strip to bypass the Hamas terrorist group.

Nevertheless, the U.S. and other countries have been airdropping humanitarian into the coastal enclave and American military vessels are en route to Gaza to establish a temporary pier, for unloading supplies, at the direction of President Joe Biden.

Separately, a ship carrying nearly 200 tons of food for Gaza departed Larnaca port in Cyprus early Tuesday as part of a pilot program to provide humanitarian aid to the coastal enclave via the Mediterranean Sea.

Israeli Air Force strikes killed a Hamas terrorist responsible for many rocket launches against Israel, including on Oct. 7, the army updated on Wednesday, the war’s 159th day.

In addition, the IAF carried out widescale strikes “on enemy staging grounds” in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. Terrorist infrastructure, including operational tunnel shafts and anti-tank launch posts, were destroyed in the strikes. A terrorist was also killed in central Gaza.

Meanwhile in the southern Gaza Strip, troops “intensified operations” in the Hamad neighborhood of Khan Yunis and the nearby towns of Abasan al-Kabira and Al-Qarara, eliminating a terror cell and seizing weapons.