Israeli body says it would get aid into Gaza if its government opened more crossings

The Israeli body in charge of access into Gaza has told Sky News that more border crossings could be opened for aid to get to northern Gaza directly, if the Israeli government gave them the order.

The US administration has publicly called for more crossings to be opened and the Israeli COGAT (Co-ordinator for Government Activities in the Territories) admitted that would be possible in theory.

“That would be a decision that needs to be made by the government,” Shimon Freedman, a spokesman for COGAT told Sky News.

“If they were to make such a decision, then we would find a way to facilitate their decision. If the directive came from the government, then COGAT would find a way to fulfil that mission, as we’ve done with many different humanitarian initiatives throughout the war.”

In recent days Israel has come in for criticism by the US, UK and other western countries, over a lack of humanitarian aid being received in Gaza.

US vice president Kamala Harris said people were “starving” and Israel needed to increase the flow of life-saving assistance.

She described the current conditions inside Gaza as “inhumane” and a “humanitarian catastrophe”.

Israel insists it has sped up the process of checks on its side of the border, and says trucks are now backing up in a bottleneck. They blame aid organisations in Gaza for the crisis.

Challenged on Israel’s responsibility as the occupying power in Gaza, COGAT said that the United Nations distributed aid in warzones around the world and Gaza should be no different.

The spokesman said: “What Israel is trying to do is work with the international community and with international organisations to make sure that as much humanitarian aid as is necessary is reaching the people in Gaza.

“The distribution itself is up to the organisations, but we are helping and we are doing what we can to help them do that in a better manner.

“And we’re also trying to find ways to overcome those challenges of distribution, for example, through the airdrops of aid, facilitating those with different countries who are wanting to do that.”

More from Sky News:
Family ‘scammed out of £2k’ trying evacuate relative from Gaza

Jan Egeland, the secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council told Sky News: “This is the most trapped population, under the worst bombardment in modern history – against any civilian population.

“And we’re not even getting in the emergency aid that this bombarded population is in need of.”

Mr Egeland said border crossings could be opened immediately but the fact that they had not was making delivering aid difficult.

“The US and others are forced to resort to the most primitive, the least precise, the most chaotic of aid anywhere, which is airdrops. It’s not going to solve the situation.”

A push for a ceasefire before Ramadan starts on 10 March seems to have faltered, with Israel and Hamas blaming each other for the impasse.

Without a ceasefire, it is likely to become increasingly hard to get aid to parts of Gaza and aid organisations are warning of imminent famine.

The French military has joined the US, Jordanian, Egyptians and Emiratis in carrying out aid drops, but they are only used in a last resort and it is difficult to ensure the aid gets to the right place.

Sea routes are being explored, with Cyprus being a possible staging post, but that will introduce further problems, with the port in Gaza being out of action and questions of how the ships would have secure and safe passage into Gaza.