(9 May 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rafah, Gaza Strip – 9 May 2024
1. Various of UNRWA warehouses almost empty
2. Various of UNRWA workers filling bags with supplies
3. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Um Mohammed, Palestinian woman in Gaza:
++SOUNDBITE PARTIALLY COVERED++
"There isn’t enough aid like the aid that we would expect since we are staying at the agency’s warehouses. People who are outside might have supplies more than that. We are getting some toilet paper or a piece of soap. There are no aid supplies. During the (Muslim holy) month of Ramadan they gave us one coupon that was worth it only."
4. Various of UNRWA workers filling bags with supplies
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Sultan Abu Sultan, Palestinian man in Gaza:
++SOUNDBITE PARTIALLY COVERED++
"Since they closed the border crossing we stopped receiving anything. In the past, the agency (UNRWA) used to give us some stuff such as canned food or coupons. But after they (Israeli forces) closed the border crossing, we did not get anything. And those who had some rice or sugar left, they started running out and the prices are rising. Those who have no money, how will they get supplies?"
6. Various of aid supplies inside UNRWA warehouses
7. Various of UNRWA warehouses with low supplies
8. Exterior shot of UNRWA warehouses
STORYLINE:
Warehouses used by aid agencies in the Gaza Strip to store supplies were running low Thursday, two days after a main border crossing with Egypt was closed as Israeli troops stormed the area earlier this week.
The Israeli military said Wednesday that it has reopened its Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza after days of closure, but the U.N. said no humanitarian aid has yet entered and there is no one to receive it on the Palestinian side after workers fled during Israel’s military incursion in the area.
The Kerem Shalom crossing between Gaza and Israel was closed over the weekend after a Hamas rocket attack killed four Israeli soldiers nearby, and on Tuesday, an Israeli tank brigade seized the nearby Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, forcing its closure.
The two facilities are the main terminals for entry of food, medicine and other supplies essential for the survival of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million Palestinians.
The Israeli foray did not appear to be the start of the full-scale invasion of the city of Rafah that Israel has repeatedly promised.
The United States paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on Rafah, in a further widening of divisions between the two close allies.
A shipment of humanitarian aid left a port in Cyprus on Thursday morning and was on its way to the U.S-built pier in Gaza, the first delivery to the newly built ramp, Cyprus’ foreign minister said Thursday.
The relief is desperately needed, with the U.N. saying people in Gaza are on the brink of famine and as Israeli troops ordered the evacuation of 100,000 Palestinians from Gaza’s southern city of Rafah.
Humanitarians say aid coming by sea won’t be enough to alleviate the dire humanitarian suffering in Gaza and that the most effective way to get assistance in is by land.
But the closure of the Rafah crossing and the nearby Kerem Shalom crossing this week cut off the entry of food, supplies, and fuel for aid trucks and generators.
International aid groups briefed reporters Wednesday and described a distribution network at risk of collapse across the territory because of the cut off of the only fuel shipments into Gaza.
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