Israel wants to prevent demonstrators from blocking the flow of aid to Gaza
Israel stepped up efforts on Sunday to prevent Israeli protesters from blocking the flow of aid into Gaza, two days after the United Nations' top court said it should allow more supplies into the enclave.
The Israeli army has declared the area around a border crossing into Gaza a closed military zone, in an attempt to halt protests that have been hampering the flow of aid through the only open border crossing between Israel and Gaza for several days. The decision was made on Saturday evening, but not publicly announced until Sunday afternoon.
Dozens of protesters had blocked the Kerem Shalom border crossing in southern Israel since Wednesday, arguing that no humanitarian aid should enter Gaza until Hamas releases all the prisoners it is holding there.
The International Court of Justice in The Hague issued a preliminary ruling on Friday in a case accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza. the delivery of more humanitarian aid to the Palestiniansand called for the release of hostages held by armed groups in the enclave.
Before the military declared the closed zone, many protesters had walked through open fields to avoid police roadblocks, thwarting Israeli authorities' attempts to stop them, according to footage posted online by a group behind the demonstrations. According to Israeli news media reports, some trucks managed to enter Gaza before the demonstrators arrived at the intersection.
The military order is intended to block access to all unauthorized persons and will remain in effect until February 3.
The protests at the Kerem Shalom border crossing have led to dozens of aid trucks being diverted through Egypt, with only some crossing the border, the United Nations said.
The United Nations said Friday that protesters had blocked trucks carrying flour, food, hygiene items, tents and other goods from entering Gaza for two days. assistance.”
Israel opened the Kerem Shalom crossing in December following pressure from the United States to speed up the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza, where most of the territory's 2.2 million civilians face severe shortages food, water and supplies. At the time, Israel said it had committed to 200 trucks per day, but the number of registrations is fell short of that goal.
Kerem Shalom is one of two border crossings through which aid enters Gaza; most of it goes through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. The United Nations said about a fifth of aid has gone through Kerem Shalom since it reopened.
Video footage filmed by the Israeli news media and reposted Social media from the group behind the demonstrations showed Israeli security forces standing by at the border crossing on Sunday as protesters waved Israeli flags and chanted through megaphones that no aid would pass until all the hostages were returned.
The protest came as the American-led negotiators have done drawn up a written draft agreement calling for the phased release of prisoners held by Hamas in return for a halt to the Israeli military offensive for about two months. That framework will be the subject of discussions in Paris on Sunday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel was asked at a televised news conference on Saturday evening why Israel did not make access to aid to Gaza conditional on a humanitarian gesture on the part of Hamas. He responded that without allowing “minimal” humanitarian aid, Israel could not complete its mission or achieve its war goals.
Gabby Sobelman And Nada Rashwan reporting contributed.