Palestinians gather to receive food in Jabalia in northern Gaza. (Credit: Mahmoud Issa/Reuters)
BEIRUT — Israel's war cabinet has decided to take "immediate steps" to boost "humanitarian assistance" for civilians in the Gaza Strip, Haaretz reported Friday.
The additional aid will be delivered through Ashdod Port and the Erez border crossing.
According to a statement released after midnight, "this increased assistance will prevent a humanitarian crisis and is essential to ensure the continuation of the fighting and achieve the objectives of the war. In light of this, Israel will allow the temporary provision of humanitarian aid through Ashdod and Erez Crossing and increase Jordanian aid through Kerem Shalom."
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told CNN in an interview on Thursday that the United States welcomes reports that the security cabinet has approved the opening of the Erez crossing with Gaza to allow more humanitarian aid to go in. He said if true, the report was welcome news.
On Monday, an Israeli airstrike killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza garnering worldwide condemnations.
Major international aid groups warned Thursday it was now almost impossible to work in Gaza, as one accused countries supplying arms to Israel of being complicit in what "amounts to genocide."
Isabelle Defourny, president of Doctors Without Borders NGO, spoke out about the risk of genocide, to AFP, as 13 major humanitarian groups blasted Israel for restricting aid getting into the Gaza Strip.
A spokesperson for the United Nations humanitarian agency, OCHA, had said at the end of February that Israel has been "systematically" blocking aid.
"Aid convoys have come under fire and are systematically denied access to people in need," Jens Laerke had said, adding that such "inadequate facilitation for the delivery of aid throughout Gaza means that humanitarian workers are subject to unacceptable and preventable risk of being detained, injured or worse."