(30 May 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kerem Shalom, Israel – 30 May 2024
1. Zoom in humanitarian aid trucks at crossing
2. Various of aid on trucks
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Shimon Freedman, COGAT’s international spokesperson
“This is a pretty new thing that’s been happening in the past few weeks and again it will change from day to day. What we’re doing is prioritising humanitarian aid and different coordination requests from the international organisations and then we are also allowing for private sector aid to come in. It’s important also to say that that private sector, some of it is being purchased from the private sector by the international organisations and that is being distributed and then some of it is, you know, from the private sector and then it’s going on to be sold.”
4. Zoom in on aid from the Norwegian Refugee Council
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Shimon Freedman, COGAT’s international spokesperson
“So, in terms of how much is coming in a day, the average number of trucks coming in in general was around 350 in May. So, I don’t know that specific number that you’re referencing that they are quoting. But even if that was true, it would still mean that most of the trucks that are coming in as aid and as I said, what we are prioritising is the aid coming in.”
6. Aid near trucks
7. Zoom in on World Central Kitchen aid
8. Various of trucks with aid leaving
9. Wide of crossing
STORYLINE:
Since the start of Israel’s offensive on Rafah, the passage of private commercial trucks through Kerem Shalom has surged.
"This is a pretty new thing that’s been happening in the past few weeks and again it will change from day to day," said Shimon Friedman, spokesperson for the Israeli defence body in charge of the aid operations, COGAT (Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories), at the Kerem Shalom crossing Thursday. Kerem Shalom is the main aid crossing into the Gaza Strip.
The increase in commercial goods entering the Gaza Strip has been criticised by the UN, who says it’s coming at the expense of desperately needed humanitarian aid into the besieged enclave.
The Israeli military launched what at the time it called a limited operation on Gaza’s southernmost city, Rafah, on May 6. Since then, the UN and humanitarian organizations say they have struggled to get aid into Gaza, where hunger is on the rise, over a million are displaced, and the cash supply to buy market goods is waning.
As the number of aid trucks currently entering the Gaza Strip hovers under 30 a day, they say the number of commercial trucks has jumped, on average, from 20 a day to about 120.
Friedman denied the claim, saying that Israel treats commercial aid in the same way — inspecting and unloading it — as humanitarian aid. "What we are prioritising is the aid coming in," he said.
AP video shot by Ami Bentov
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