UN says 915 aid trucks entered Gaza on Monday

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said 915 aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip on Monday, the second day of a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas after 15 months of war.

OCHA cited information from Israel and the ceasefire guarantors, the U.S., Qatar and Egypt. On Sunday, the U.N. said some 630 aid trucks entered the Palestinian enclave, with at least 300 of them going to the north, where experts have warned a famine looms.

The ceasefire deal requires 600 truckloads of aid to be allowed into Gaza every day of the initial six-week ceasefire, including 50 carrying fuel. Half of the 600 aid trucks would be delivered to Gaza's north.

Data from the U.N. Palestinian relief agency UNRWA showed 2,892 aid trucks entered Gaza in December. Aid is dropped off on the Gaza side of the border, where it is picked up by the U.N. and distributed.

But gangs and looters have made that hard. Data from OCHA shows 2,230 aid truckloads - an average of 72 a day - were picked up in December, while between Jan. 1-5 it was a daily average of 51.

Israel has laid waste to much of Gaza and the pre-war population of 2.3 million people has been displaced multiple times. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has described the humanitarian situation as "catastrophic."

Reuters