Humanitarian aid reached Gaza’s Jabalia on Wednesday night after Israel reopened the Erez crossing, the sole crossing on the northern edge of the strip, in response to U.S. demands aimed at addressing the growing humanitarian crisis.
The reopening of the Erez crossing has been a key demand of international aid agencies for months to help alleviate severe hunger among the hundreds of thousands of civilians in the enclave’s northern sector.
The crossing was reopened on the same day U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Israel and met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, urging increased humanitarian aid deliveries into the territory.
Primarily used for pedestrian traffic, the Erez crossing had been closed since Oct. 7, when it was destroyed during Hamas attacks that precipitated the war.
On Wednesday, a convoy of Jordanian aid trucks en route to the Erez crossing was attacked by Israeli settlers but continued on, according to Jordan’s foreign ministry.
The United Nations has repeatedly expressed concerns about obstacles to delivering and distributing aid in Gaza since Israel began an aerial and ground offensive against the ruling Islamist militant group Hamas in October.
