IDF Response to Complaints in Which "Looting Cripples Food Supply in Gaza as Israel Neglects Pledge to Tackle Gangs":

Israel has taken significant steps to allow the maximum possible scope of aid to Gaza. These measures include extending the hours of operation at the Kerem Shalom crossing, providing tactical pauses, improving the logistics capabilities of the international organizations through the transfer of dozens of empty trucks, and opening four northern crossings that were not used for the transfer of goods before the war - Erez Mizrah, Erez West, Crossing 96, and Crossing 147 next to the Kerem Shalom Crossing.
Along with this, we emphasize that the volume of goods and humanitarian aid to the Strip has increased compared to before the outbreak of the war. As proof, it can be seen that before the war, an average of 70 food trucks per day entered the Gaza Strip, while since the beginning of the war, over 61,000 trucks were brought in, totalling over 1.2 million tons of aid, including food, water and medical equipment. Therefore, the average number of trucks per day has been around 155 trucks since the beginning of the year, more than twice the amount before the outbreak of the war. This means that there has been a sharp and significant increase in the volume of food trucks entering the Strip, with priority given to bring in essential humanitarian aid such as food, water, medical equipment and more.

5. The claims according to which the bakeries do not receive produce are false. The IDF, through COGAT, is in continuous contact with the WFP organization that manages the bakeries and provides the means to operate the bakeries, including equipment, fuel, flour and more. For reference, in the month of November, 847 flour trucks were transported to the organization through the crossings, of which 389 trucks were transported to the north of the Gaza Strip through the ‘Erez West’ crossing.

6. In the last two months there has been intense military activity in the north of the Gaza Strip against the terrorist organizations that operate in the area and are assimilated into the civilian population. As an integral part of the operational activity, a dedicated humanitarian response was formulated for the area in coordination with the United Nations, which includes, among other things, the transfer of humanitarian aid to the residents of the northern Gaza Strip. Thus, starting in October, over 2,100 trucks were brought through the ‘Erez West’ crossing, coordination of movements of humanitarian teams was carried out, evacuation of hundreds of patients and attendants from the hospitals in the north, the introduction of hundreds of packages of food, water and medical equipment alongside the transfer of fuel and medical equipment to the medical facilities in the north to maintain the vital apparatus in the north of the Gaza Strip. In the meantime, the transfer of aid is been coordinated, including to the areas of Beit Hanoun, Jabaliya and Beit Lahia, where dozens of trucks including - packages of food, flour and water were transferred.

Attached are IDF statements regarding the transfer of aid to the Beit Hanoun area and the transfer of supplies to hospitals from recent days:

22.12.24
In coordination with COGAT: The Delivery of 5,000 liters of fuel, transfer of over 100 patients, caregivers and other individuals from the Kamal Adwan and Al-Awda hospitals, and the entry of hundreds of food packages

Last Friday, as part of efforts to allow and facilitate hospital medical response in the Gaza Strip, in coordination with COGAT's CLA for Gaza, 5,000 liters of fuel were delivered to support the essential operations of Kamal Adwan Hospital. Additionally, 87 patients, caregivers, and other individuals were transferred to active hospitals in the Gaza Strip by ambulances and other vehicles in coordination with the WHO. Concurrently, hundreds of food packages were brought in, and 16 patients and caregivers were transferred from Al-Awda Hospital in coordination with the Red Cross.

These transfers were carried out following requests from the IDF and health system officials to safely evacuate hospitals in the area, ensuring the safety of residents while maintaining humanitarian corridors and active medical centers in the Gaza Strip.

The IDF, through COGAT, will continue operating to support and facilitate humanitarian responses for the civilian population of Gaza, particularly in the healthcare field.

21.12.24

 Thousands of Food Packages, Including Flour, and Water Delivered to the Beit Hanoun Area and Over 2,100 Trucks Entered Northern Gaza Since October; Humanitarian Efforts Continue in Coordination with COGAT

In accordance with the directive of the political echelon and within the framework of the commitment to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid to northern Gaza, thousands of food packages, including flour, and water were delivered yesterday (Friday) to the Beit Hanoun area in a tactical coordinated operation led by COGAT. The aid was transported by nine WFP trucks carrying 2,000 food packages, 1,680 sacks of flour, and thousands of liters of water, to distribution centers for the civilian population in the area. The operation was led and coordinated by COGAT's CLA for Gaza, in collaboration with international aid organizations.

Alongside this operation, humanitarian efforts in northern Gaza continue. Since October, over 2,100 humanitarian aid trucks have been transferred to northern Gaza through the Erez West crossing.

The IDF, through COGAT, will continue to support and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, with a particular focus on the northern Gaza Strip.

The State of Israel is making significant efforts to enable and facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, including the northern part of the Strip. Since the beginning of the war, over 61,000 aid trucks have entered the Gaza Strip containing approximately 1,208,673 tons of humanitarian aid through the various crossings, including approximately 919,887 tons of food, approximately 52,390 tons of water, and approximately 29,181 tons of medical equipment.
These efforts are coordinated with the United States, Egypt, the United Nations and international aid organizations, while maintaining ongoing and continuous communication with the parties operating in the Gaza Strip.
Dozens of movement coordination meetings are held every day throughout the Gaza Strip with the help of the Israel Defense Forces and IDF forces. These meetings enable the transfer of aid from the crossings for the purpose of supplying essential supplies and refueling humanitarian facilities and infrastructure, including hospitals, shelters and logistics centers of the international community.
It should be noted that as far as the coordination of aid movements in the northern Gaza Strip is concerned, since the beginning of the war, coordination has been carried out continuously, subject to the security and operational situation. While the IDF is working to eradicate terrorist activity in the Gaza Strip, the murderous terrorist organization Hamas continues to fight and inflict terror in the region. Therefore, in parallel to the IDF's operational activity in the Gaza during the past month, the coordination was carried out in a targeted manner in the battle zones, both due to operational constraints and due to the tangible risk for the lives of the aid workers and the forces in the field.

7. As part of Israel's commitment to allow and facilitate the transfer of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, Israel allowed food to be brought into the Gaza Strip through the private sector. However, Hamas has cynically exploited the sector to commandeer, impose taxes and plunder the goods as well as selling them off to the population at exorbitant prices.
As of now Israel is acting proactively to promote the distribution of the aid supported by the international aid organizations while increasing the capabilities of collection and distribution through a variety of ways and actions. As part of this, in recent days, there has been an increase in the collection capabilities of the international community.

9. Crossing 147 was opened a few weeks ago at the request of international organizations, as a fifth route to enable and facilitate the transfer of aid. However, there are dozens of trucks waiting to be collected and distributed by the UN.
10. As for the beginning of October, truck traffic was not allowed at the crossings, due to the Israeli public holidays, the commemoration events of the October 7th massacre, security alerts and operational constraints, that did not allow the opening of the crossings after Rosh Hashanah. It should be noted that even at times when the crossings were not operating, it was possible to collect containers from the Gazan side of the Kerem Shalom crossing. The monitoring of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip continues at all times to ensure that the reserves of goods that entered the Gaza Strip before the start of the military operation in the northern Gaza Strip, allow for a humanitarian response to the population.
The IDF acts proactively with the international organizations to increase collection and distribution capabilities. In this regard, additional crossings were opened alongside providing proactive solutions for the distribution of aid. Accordingly, just last week, 1,025 trucks were brought through the crossings and 1,076 which had entered via the crossings were distributed by the international aid organizations via their warehouses and shelters.

12. Since Egypt's decision to close the Rafah crossing through the Egyptian side in May 2024, the IDF through COGAT facilitated the transfer of aid from Egypt through the Kerem Shalom crossing, thus ensuring the continued supply of aid from Egypt to the Gaza Strip.
As for the claims about the aid waiting in Jordan - contrary to these claims, Israel does not prevent the transfer of aid from Jordan. Moreover, in coordination with the Jordanian army and the US army, a platform for the continuous transfer of aid from Jordan to the north of the Gaza Strip was established.
It should be emphasized that this platform is not the only way to transfer aid from Jordan and there are many organizations that use the border crossings with Jordan for transportation to Kerem Shalom. Israel is investing a lot of effort into expanding the routes of aid transfer, as well as crossing points that allow trucks to enter Gaza - all of which are open to the UN.

13. As for the question of requirements under international law - Israel is bound by international law, and thereby to the obligations imposed on it under the laws of armed conflict, which is the relevant legal framework that regulates the obligations of the parties to hostilities. By virtue of the laws of armed conflict, the parties to the conflict have the duty to allow and facilitate the passage of humanitarian aid necessary for the survival of the civilian population, subject to certain conditions.
For more information regarding the State's position on this issue, we refer to the State's answer as submitted to the Israel High Court of Justice - https://www.alma-ihl.org/ihl-translations#h.ssrzyhcef21n.
In this context, it should be clarified that the State of Israel is working during this war to allow the entry of large quantities of humanitarian aid into the territory of the Gaza Strip. This, while investing great efforts and close cooperation with aid organizations and the international community to provide relief to the civilian population in the territory of the Gaza Strip, this out of a commitment to international law. Israel also works to enable and facilitate the aid organizations in their work to transport and bring the aid to the civilian population, by way of coordination mechanisms, repairing roads and responding to the needs that arise from the field in a regular dialogue with the organizations.

18. This is a briefing by an IDF officer – the responsibility for collecting and distributing the aid is on the international aid organizations.