A new process for inspecting aid for Gaza at the Karem Abu Salem crossing is being tested, but efforts to get permission for trucks to enter through the crossing and ramp up relief are still ongoing, a senior UN official told Reuters.
Under the new system, trucks would come to the Kerem Shalom crossing on the border between Israel, Gaza, and Egypt for the first time from Jordan, before entering Gaza from Rafah, about 3 km (1.86 miles) away.
But Carl Skau, deputy executive director of the World Food Programme, said the trucks would need to be allowed to enter Gaza directly through Karem Abu Salem crossing to alleviate an increasingly desperate situation in the coastal enclave, according to Al Jazeera.
Until now, limited quantities of aid have been delivered from Egypt through the Rafah crossing, which is ill-equipped to process large numbers of trucks. Trucks have been driving more than 40km (24.9 miles) south to Egypt’s border with Israel before returning to Rafah, leading to bottlenecks and delays.
