Israel to open routes for humanitarian aid into Gaza

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Israel has announced it is opening new routes for humanitarian deliveries into Gaza after a warning from US President Joe Biden that it must protect civilians.

The Erez Crossing into northern parts of the Gaza Strip will be opened for the first time since the Hamas attacks of October 7 – and aid will temporarily be allowed to flow through the Port of Ashdod.

Israeli officials have also said they are planning to increase the amount of aid from Jordan moving through the Kerem Shalom crossing.

“This increased aid will prevent a humanitarian crisis and is necessary to ensure the continuation of the fighting and to achieve the goals of the war,” a spokesman for the Israeli government said.

During a call on Thursday, Mr Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to immediately let more trucks carrying humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The president said future US support for Israel’s Gaza war depends on the swift implementation of new steps to protect civilians and aid workers.

“He made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers,” the White House said in a statement following the leaders’ call.

“He made clear that US policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps.”

Eyewitness: Long lines for watery soup amid fears of mass starvation

Sky’s US correspondent Mark Stone said allowing aid through the Port of Ashdod will be “a game-changing moment”.

“Remember the Americans had been forced to announce the construction of a temporary port off the Gaza shoreline to receive aid. Now, it can come from Cyprus into a fully functioning port,” he said.

He also said opening the Erez Crossing will be another significant moment, adding: “Aid arriving in Ashdod can then be driven the 20 miles south to Erez and across into the strip.”

On streamlining the movement of aid through the Kerem Shalom border crossing, he said: “It’s not clear precisely what this will look like, but I am told it could involve military trucks from Jordan being allowed straight into Gaza.

“Remember, at the moment all aid must go through bottlenecks in the south exacerbated by rigorous Israeli security checks which the Americans and aid agencies say are over the top.”

Biden and Netanyahu call represented most strained moment yet

The three-point announcement to ease aid flows into Gaza represents the most significant move by Israel since this conflict began six months ago.

It also starkly undermines Israel’s own oft-repeated assertion that it has not blocked or impeded aid movement into Gaza.

It follows a call between President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

This was a tense, challenging conversation I am told – but not one in which any direct ultimatums were issued by the Americans.

The US vibe was more “you’re making it harder and harder for us to support you” than “do this, or else”.

The Biden-Netanyahu relationship has been increasingly tested – and my sense is this call represented the most strained moment yet.

Read Stone’s full analysis here.

Routes must be ‘rapidly implemented’

The US National Security Council has welcomed Israel’s plans to increase aid flowing into Gaza.

However, it is unclear when these humanitarian routes will open – with American officials calling for this to be “fully and rapidly implemented”.

Spokesperson Adrienne Watson said: “As the president said… US policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these and other steps, including steps to protect innocent civilians and the safety of aid workers.”

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UK ‘will hold Israel to account’

The deaths of seven aid workers earlier this week – including three British nationals – in an attack by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) has led some charities to suspend their operations.

Lord Cameron told the Mail that Mr Netanyahu and other senior ministers “know how serious this issue is and how they have got to get to the bottom of it and frankly make sure it never happens again”.

‘We will hold Israel to account,” the foreign secretary added. “That is what the transparent full inquiry is all about. When these things happen even on a battlefield… they have consequences.”