Netanyahu orders more aid deliveries to Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a significant increase in deliveries for the suffering population in the Gaza Strip, Israeli media reported on Friday.

Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported that in the future, 250 lorries a day are to bring humanitarian goods to the coastal area on the Mediterranean, where war has been raging for more than a year.

Netanyahu’s decision was a response to US threats to cut back on arms deliveries to Israel if the situation of the Palestinian civilian population in the Gaza Strip does not improve.

According to the Israeli authority responsible for Palestinian affairs, the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), 50 lorries carrying aid entered Gaza on Wednesday and a further 30 entered on Friday.

The situation is considered particularly dire in the northern part of the coastal area.

The UN children’s fund UNICEF has reported that almost one in five children there is already suffering from wasting, the most life-threatening form of malnutrition.

According to UN figures, around 500 lorries a day delivered goods and aid to the Gaza Strip before the war began in October last year.