Israel reopened the only trade crossing into the Gaza Strip but the United Nations warned the flow of goods was ‘completely inadequate’ to avert a looming humanitarian crisis.
‘The Karni crossing is only working at 10 percent of its capacity,’ said the Gaza chief of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, John Ging.
‘The impact is completely inadequate. It's not going to meet the needs of the population.’
Ging said the priority for his agency was fuel but said the availability of basic foodstuffs had deteriorated further since Sunday when he issued a grim warning that Gaza was now dangerously short of bread, sugar and oil.
‘The UN has no fuel since Friday... The situation in the street is worse than Sunday.’
Ging said he hoped the situation would improve but added that the United Nations considered ‘unacceptable’ Israel's repeated closures of the central Gaza Strip crossing which has been shut for much of the year.
‘I'm optimistic but my message is clear: that's not enough,’ he said.
‘This policy is not acceptable. I'm not going to accept that it is going to be a long-term policy.’
An official in the Israeli prime minister's office said Karni would be operational on a temporary basis to allow dozens of trucks carrying foodstuffs into Gaza but that the terminal would be shut immediately if there was any threat of attack.
The Palestinians confirmed that the crossing was open but stressed they do not know for how long.
‘The Israelis told us that the crossing point would be open for several days but we are not really sure about that,’ said Hassan El Wali, a security official on the Palestinian side, accusing the Israelis of dreaming up security problems as a tool against the Palestinians.
On Monday, the crossing was reopened for less than an hour to goods entering Gaza before Israel ordered Karni to close because of an ‘attack alert’.
Israeli public radio estimated that around 90 trucks of flour, oil and rice would be allowed to cross Karni if the checkpoint stayed open the entire day.
Wali said that on days that the checkpoint has been open since January, around 500 trucks have entered Gaza from Israel, with less than 50 heading the other way.
Israel had offered to channel aid through another border crossing in the south of the territory known as Kerem Shalom, but the idea was resisted by the Palestinians who insisted Karni -- their main export terminal -- be reopened.
‘Actually it's the Palestinians who are artificially creating a humanitarian crisis by refusing to let goods pass through the Kerem Shalom checkpoint where modern equipment allows quicker transit,’ said a senior Israeli official.
The source denied that any US pressure had been brought to bear for the reopening of Karni. ‘No one can ask us to endanger the lives of truck drivers or border guards at Karni,’ he said.
On Sunday, the US ambassador to Israel hosted talks at which the Palestinians pressed for Karni to reopen.
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