In an important step, Israel indicated it would honor a 10-hour “tactical pause” in military operations. This pause focuses on three areas in Gaza to allow humanitarian assistance to be delivered. The Israeli military had declared a pause that would begin at 10 a.m. local time, or 3 a.m. ET. This suspension will be in effect until 8 p.m. daily and “until further order.”
The neighborhoods impacted by this tactical pause include Al-Mawasi, Deir al-Balah, and Shujaya in Gaza City. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) stated, “To increase the scale of humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip, a local tactical pause in military activity will take place for humanitarian purposes.” Israel says it will open up some specific “humanitarian corridors.” These humanitarian corridors will provide safe passage for UN and humanitarian organization convoys between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. local time.
These humanitarian corridors are meant to allow the flow of essential to food and medical items into and throughout Gaza. Yet, despite proclaimed motives, there are increasing concerns about the humanitarian crisis in the area. Aid organizations have been warning of imminent “mass starvation” in Gaza. Reports from the United Nations show that more than 1,000 Palestinians have tragically died while attempting to access vital assistance in the past few months alone.
While Israel asserts that “there is no starvation in the Gaza Strip,” evidence of widespread hunger continues to grow. We welcome the World Food Programme’s statement that it can now reach 98% of malnourished children in Gaza. This is possible only if the crossings into the enclave remain open. Doctors in hospitals are further pushed to the brink as they try to care for an ever-growing influx of malnourished patients.
To compound the humanitarian needs, an Israeli “large-scale humanitarian convoy” has been dispatched from Jordan. It transports vital food aid to quickly reach those who need it most. The convoy will have more than 100 trucks from Egypt plus another 60 trucks from Jordan. Combined, they’re transporting over 1,200 tons of food ingredients including around 840 tons of flour to Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing.
Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari commented on the initiative, stating, “We created this safe pass, in those hours, to make sure the distribution [of aid] is ongoing.” Since then, experts have repeatedly shot down these proposals, raising questions about the efficacy of these measures. Joe English of the World Food Programme raised the difficult logistics and security considerations of doing airdrops in places like Gaza. Further addressing the humanitarian situation, he stressed that “That’s not true in the Gaza Strip.”
The resultant humanitarian crisis is at an emergency level. Aid organizations are pleading for all crossings to be opened so that sustained aid can come through. English further noted, “We can turn this around in a month but it has to go back to the way that the UN was working,” stressing the necessity of consistent access to aid for malnourished children.
Getting to a malnourished child just once is insufficient. It takes work, real work, not just performative work to actually have their backs. The executive director of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, condemned Israel’s mass killings as a mere “distraction.” He underscored that we require more transformative actions to deliver aid than we currently have.
