UN says cannot verify waiting Gaza aid due to lack of access

The United Nations said Thursday it did not know how many truckloads of aid were awaiting distribution inside the Gaza border because Israel has not granted it access.

International criticism is growing over the plight of the more than two million Palestinians in Gaza, where more than 100 aid and rights groups have warned that "mass starvation" is spreading.

The Israeli military denied Wednesday that it was blocking humanitarian aid from entering the Palestinian territory, claiming that 950 truckloads of aid were on the Gaza side of the border waiting for international organisations to collect and distribute it.

"Despite our repeated requests, Israel has not allowed the UN to be present at the crossings, which are militarised areas," said Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency OCHA.

"We therefore cannot verify the amount of supplies currently at the crossing," he told AFP.

Laerke explained that the UN needed multiple authorisations from the Israeli authorities: firstly to get aid across the border from Israel into the Gaza Strip, where it is dropped off -- the trucks returning to Israel -- followed by another approval to drive trucks from inside Gaza to the crossing point to pick it up.

"It is very important to stress that it is not just about denials of requests to pick up the cargo," he added.

"Israel -- as the occupying power and a party to the conflict -- must facilitate humanitarian operations all the way till it reaches people who need it to survive."

This means that, beyond simply authorisation, "they must provide the green light for trucks without unnecessary delays; allow teams to use multiple, safer routes; and order troops to stay away from the convoys, and never shoot at civilians along the allocated routes -- or anywhere else", Laerke explained.

"Without the full set of conditions in place, safe and principled delivery cannot take place at scale. So even when approved, those missions are often impeded on the ground."

After talks to extend a six-week ceasefire broke down, Israel imposed a full blockade on Gaza on March 2, allowing nothing in until trucks were again permitted at a trickle in late May.

The October 2023 attack on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas triggered war in the Gaza Strip.