UN says continues to push for opening of Kerem Shalom crossing

The UN said Wednesday it continues to push for the opening of the Kerem Shalom crossing in Israel and that not only humanitarian aid but the entry of commercial goods into Gaza needs to resume.

"At this point, we continue to use the Rafah crossing," deputy spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters.

"The capacity of the Rafah crossing to handle the sort of volume of aid we need to get in is limited. So that's why we are continuing to push for the opening of Kerem Shalom," he said.

He noted statements by Lynn Hastings, UN's humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinians, and said the UN and its humanitarian partners are ready to "seize" the opportunity of a humanitarian pause to "increase humanitarian operations." Civilians in Gaza" cannot depend on humanitarian aid alone."

"The entry of commercial goods needs to resume, especially through the Kerem Shalom crossing, which has the capacity for it," he added.

The Kerem Shalom crossing was used to carry more than 60% of truckloads headed to Gaza before the conflict, Martin Griffiths, UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, said last week.

Citing figures by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), he said 63,800 liters of fuel entered Gaza from Egypt on Tuesday and is being distributed by the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to support food distribution and operate generators at hospitals, water and sanitation facilities, shelters and other critical services.

Seventy-none trucks carrying humanitarian supplies entered late Tuesday from Egypt, according to the UN spokesman.

Between Oct. 21 and Nov. 21, at least 1,399 truckloads of humanitarian supplies, excluding fuel, have entered Gaza through the Egyptian border, compared to a monthly average of nearly 10,000 trucks of commercial and humanitarian commodities, excluding fuel, entering Gaza before Oct. 7, he said.

Nearly 1.7 million residents are displaced in Gaza, with nearly 770,000 internally displaced persons, are sheltering in 99 UNRWA facilities in "extremely overcrowded conditions," said Haq.

Gaza has seen a 35% increase in skin diseases and a 40% rise in cases of diarrhea in recent weeks amid an Israeli bombardment and blockage, with limited humanitarian aid and fuel entering the besieged enclave, according to Haq.