Houses damaged by Israeli bombardment lie in ruin in northern Gaza, as seen from Israel, Feb. 15, 2024. (Credit: Amir Cohen/Reuters)
The Israeli army has instructed logistics companies to prepare a third crossing to open for aid deliveries into northern Gaza, according to a report from Saudi-owned, London-based news magazine Al Majalla.
Karni crossing is one of four entry points along Gaza’s eastern border with Israel, and one of three that are located in the north of the enclave. Of the seven border crossings that exist, or have existed, along the entire militarized border between Gaza, Israel and Egypt, only Rafah and Kerem Shalom, both along Gaza’s southern border, are open for aid deliveries.
Israel has imposed strict limitations on how much and what kind of aid can enter Gaza. The difficulty of getting aid to northern Gaza all the way from the southern entry points is compounded by conditions on the ground and an Israeli checkpoint that dissects the Strip, where aid trucks are often refused entry.
Citing two sources privy to plans for Karni crossing, Al Majalla reports that the Israeli army has ordered for quick work to be done in maintenance and servicing at Karni. Sources say preparatory work started on Feb. 11 and is now in full swing, although contracts with suppliers and logistics companies — in order to establish a fleet of trucks and a series of warehouses — have not yet been finalized.
A third source revealed to Al Majalla that a United Nations agency operating in Gaza has instructed its staff to liaise with contractors on the ground in the north and in Gaza City to assess the humanitarian needs, as they expect a large-scale forced displacement from Rafah.
Al Majalla also spoke to four truck drivers in Rafah who all independently said they had been told to “get ready” to deliver aid to the north and Gaza City through the Karni crossing.
Karni crossing was established in 1994 as a cargo terminal for the import and export of goods, after the Oslo Accords were signed by Israel and the Palestinian Authority, but has been closed since 2011 as a result of Israel’s blockade of Gaza. In 2022, Israel demolished the crossing’s remaining infrastructure and replaced it with a barrier, saying it was necessary in order to improve defenses in the South.
On April 27, 2018, during a wave of protests known as the Great March of Return, over 10,000 people, majority unarmed, gathered at Karni crossing. A New York Times report details how, for the first time in five weeks of protesting, and maybe for the first time in their lives, several Palestinians managed to reach the border fence. Undercover of the rushing crowds, around a dozen men cut through the barbed wire with clippers and started to scale the outer fence that had kept them trapped in Gaza since Israel’s blockade started in 2007. In response, Israeli soldiers threw grenades and shot live ammunition.
By the end of the day around 800 people had been injured and several killed. Pictures from AFP show dozens of people tugging a rope attached to the fence near Karni crossing in an attempt to bring the barrier down. Others rolled burning tires toward the fence hoping it would burn down.
Opening the crossing now, during the fifth month of Israel’s relentless war on Gaza, will greatly assist in delivering aid directly to the north. More than 300,000 people remain in northern Gaza, which has seen some of the worst fighting in the enclave.
In early January, the Israeli army declared that it had successfully “dismantled” Hamas in northern Gaza and that it would withdraw some of its troops and focus on more targeted attacks. However, only a few days after troops pulled out, tanks had rolled back into the areas they had left, and fighting restarted with intensity. There have been recent reports of Hamas’ ongoing presence in the north. While conditions there are dire, the group, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, has deployed police officers and even paid civil servants their salaries.