For the first time since the beginning of the war, Israel is allowing trucks carrying aid supplies into the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom border crossing. A first convoy has crossed the border. The fighting continues.
The first aid convoy entered the Gaza Strip via the Israeli border crossing at Kerem Shalom. A representative of the Egyptian Red Crescent said 79 trucks were on their way to the Palestinian territory.
Israel opened the border crossing in the south of the Gaza Strip to trucks carrying aid supplies on Sunday for the first time since the outbreak of the war. Israel’s Cogat authority said: “Starting today, UN aid transporters will be subjected to security checks and taken directly to Gaza via Kerem Shalom in order to comply with our agreement with the US.”
The opening in the southeast of the Gaza Strip near the border with Egypt is intended to increase the daily amount of humanitarian aid entering the area, the Israeli authority said. The burden on the Egyptian Rafah border crossing towards Gaza should be reduced. Before the war, Kerem Shalom was used as a crossing point for goods to the Gaza Strip.
Given the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the sealed-off coastal area, Israel has recently come under increasing international pressure – including from the USA. The security cabinet in Israel provisionally approved the opening of the border crossing last week, and the United Nations welcomed the announcement.
Netanyahu reiterates goal of eliminating Hamas
The health authority controlled by the terrorist organization Hamas reported “dozens of deaths” in the Gaza Strip on Sunday. The numbers cannot be independently verified. What is certain is that fighting continues in various places there. Netanyahu recently rejected calls for a ceasefire. Israel will fight to the end and achieve all goals: the destruction of Hamas and the release of all hostages.
Israeli forces discovered an unusually large tunnel. The military showed reporters the exit hidden in a dune 100 meters south of the Erez border crossing. The tunnel will be up to 50 meters deep, three meters high and wide in places and electrified. Its length is given as four kilometers.
It is the largest tunnel discovered to date, says military spokesman Daniel Hagari. “Millions of dollars were invested in this tunnel. It took years to build this tunnel (…) vehicles could drive through.”
With information from Jan-Christoph Kitzler, ARD Studio Tel Aviv
Jan-Christoph Kitzler, ARD Tel Aviv, tagesschau, December 17, 2023 5:11 p.m