UPDATE: Israel announces plan for aid distribution in Gaza

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From Washington Examiner: Israel announced on Saturday that it will implement a “humanitarian pause” in parts of Gaza in order to allow the surging of aid into the region.

In a statement, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said the pause, which will start on Sunday morning, will apply to “civilian centers” and “humanitarian corridors.”

“Tomorrow morning Israel will apply a ‘humanitarian pause’ in civilian centers and in humanitarian corridors to enable the distribution of aid supply. Israel has continued to facilitate the entry of aid trucks into the Gaza strip,” the statement said.

The foreign ministry instructed the United Nations, to “collect and distribute the large quantities of aid, without any further delay or excuses.”

Israel had accused the UN of failing to distribute aid.

Airdrops of aid will resume in Gaza after they were suspended for months.

The The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) releasesd the following statement:

New steps to improve the humanitarian response in Gaza:

✈️Aerial airdrops of aid will resume. The airdrop includes 7 pallets of aid containing flour, sugar, and canned food.
🚚Designated humanitarian to enable safe movement of UN convoys delivering food and medicine.
✋Humanitarian pauses may be implemented in populated areas to facilitate aid.
💧A power line from Israel to a Gaza desalination plant has been reconnected, boosting daily water output to 20,000 cubic meters.

The IDF emphasizes that there is no starvation in Gaza; this is a false campaign promoted by Hamas. Responsibility for food distribution lies with the UN & international aid organizations. Therefore, the UN and international organizations are expected to improve the effectiveness of aid distribution and to ensure that the aid does not reach Hamas.

Combat operations have not ceased. We will continue to operate in Gaza to return all hostages and to defeat Hamas, both above and below ground.

World Food Programme released this statement:

WFP welcomes the news that Israel is prepared to implement humanitarian pauses, and that designated humanitarian corridors will be created, to facilitate the safe movement of UN convoys delivering emergency food supplies and other aid to people in Gaza.

WFP has enough food in – or on its way to – the region to feed the entire population of 2.1 million people for almost three months.

These new commitments to improve operating conditions come on top of earlier assurances from Israel to strengthen facilitation of humanitarian assistance. This includes allowing more trucks to enter Gaza with quicker clearances and approvals, use of alternative roads and routes inside Gaza, assurances of no armed forces or shootings near convoys, and the ability for humanitarian organizations to import and use the communications equipment needed to coordinate aid deliveries.

[…]

Food aid is the only real way for most people inside Gaza to eat. A third of the population is not eating for days. Some 470,000 people are enduring famine-like conditions. 90,000 women and children need urgent nutrition treatment. People are dying due to a lack of humanitarian assistance.

An agreed ceasefire is the only way for humanitarian assistance to reach the entire civilian population in Gaza with critical food supplies in a consistent, predictable, orderly and safe manner — wherever they are across the Gaza Strip.

Some have voiced disagreement with the arrangement. Many believe that Hamas is taking much of the aid, and UN and other aid groups have been accused of not distributing aid in a timely fashion to help drive the narrative that Israel is committing genocide. Some even accuse the UN of colluding with Hamas in this effort.

REPORT: More than 100 aid groups claim there is ‘mass starvation’ in Gaza

READ MORE AT WashingtonExaminer.

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