After PM’s call with Biden, ministers okay steps to swiftly ramp up aid flow to Gaza
By Lazar Berman and Jacob Magid | 5 avril 2024, 4:27 am | The Times of Israel
▻https://www.timesofisrael.com/after-pms-call-with-biden-ministers-okay-steps-to-swiftly-ramp-up-aid
(...) Israel will temporarily open up Ashdod Port for humanitarian deliveries and will open Erez Crossing in the northern Gaza Strip for the first time since it was significantly damaged, and many Israelis were killed and abducted there, during the Hamas-led October 7 terror onslaught that sparked the ongoing war.
Israel will also increase the amount of aid from Jordan moving through the Kerem Shalom crossing.
“The increased aid will prevent a humanitarian crisis,” said the PMO, “and is critical for ensuring the continuation of the fighting and achieving the war aims.”
The moves were welcomed by the White House, which called for Israel to immediately implement them.
(...) He also called to stop allowing aid into Gaza, claiming it was “the correct way” to return the hostages taken by Palestinian terrorists on October 7.
“It’s too bad that instead of entering Rafah, there are those who prefer to deal with sending equipment to Gaza that directly reaches Hamas,” Ben Gvir continued. “We must enter Rafah now!”
Israel has insisted that it will only move forward with the Rafah operation once it has cleared civilians from the southern Gaza city. But the US has expressed increased skepticism that the IDF will be able to pull off such a major evacuation, pointing to the already dire humanitarian situation in the enclave. In a video call with top aides to Netanyahu on Monday, senior Biden Administration officials reportedly called the IDF’s evacuation plan for Rafah unimpressive and unviable.
