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The Erez border crossing will now be opened for aid deliveries
Photo: Amir Cohen / REUTERS
Israel will "temporarily" allow aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip via the Erez border crossing and the port of Ashdod. In addition, more aid deliveries from Jordan are to be approved via the Kerem Shalom border crossing in the south.
The war cabinet had authorized the government to “take immediate measures to increase humanitarian aid” in order to “avoid a humanitarian crisis” and “ensure the continuation of the fighting.” This is what it says in the statement from the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The announcement followed a telephone conversation between Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden on Thursday, in which Biden called for "concrete" and "immediate" steps to protect civilians and humanitarian workers in the war between Israel and the radical Islamic group Hamas. The further US course in the conflict depends on this, Biden warned in the phone call.
US security advisor Kirby had appealed to Israel to enable a "dramatic increase" in humanitarian aid for the people in the Gaza Strip within the "coming hours and days" and to open border crossings for this purpose.
The port of Ashdod is around 40 kilometers north of the Gaza Strip. Before the Hamas attack, the Erez border crossing was used for passenger traffic between Israel and the Gaza Strip. Gunmen from the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, overran the checkpoint on October 7th.
vet/AFP