Israel Allows Aid Into Gaza, but Gazans Haven't Gotten It

Some 93 truckloads of humanitarian aid crossed into Gaza on Tuesday, but the UN says it's been stymied in its efforts to get the flour, baby food, medical equipment, and medicine into the hands of actual Gazans. A UN rep says that their workers "waited several hours" for access to the aid, reports the BBC, but none made it into their warehouse. The Washington Post reports that was because Israelis forced the unloading and re-loading of the trucks at the border, driving the effort past dark.

Israel, having enforced an 11-week blockade amid increasing international pressure and the specter of a famine, agreed on Sunday to allow a limited amount of aid into Gaza: It promised 100 truckloads per day Monday through Friday this week. Doctors Without Borders said Wednesday that the aid allowed through was "ridiculously inadequate" and "a smokescreen to pretend the siege is over." The UN rep called it "a drop in the ocean of what's needed." UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher warned Monday, after just five trucks were allowed in, that some 14,000 babies in Gaza faced death within 48 hours without a "flood" of aid. The UN estimates that 600 truckloads a day are needed, notes the BBC. (More Israel-Hamas war stories.)