LONDON, (PIC)
The British newspaper Financial Times reported, citing officials and international organizations, that food and commercial supplies to the Gaza Strip have sharply declined after Israel and the US launched their war on Iran.
The Financial Times quoted UN data as saying that a daily average of 60 UN-coordinated trucks carrying aid entered Gaza between the start of the Iran war in late February and a US-Iran ceasefire on April 8, while the average in February before the conflict began was 95.
According to the newspaper, Israel also continues to ban the entry of a wide range of essential items, including building materials.
“What matters more than the number of trucks is the things that are not being allowed in,” Olga Cherevko, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said, citing restrictions on equipment to clear rubble, medical supplies, timber and tool kits to repair shelters.
Under the terms of the October deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, which was brokered by the US president, Israel was to allow the entry of 4,200 trucks carrying aid per week as well as goods imported by local private traders, the newspaper noted.
