At least 15 aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing en route to World Food Program warehouses in central Gaza, two merchants familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.
The IDF confirmed that military officials had inspected 93 United Nations aid trucks that entered the Gaza Strip on Tuesday. The officials said that the humanitarian aid included flour for bakeries, food for babies, medical equipment, and pharmaceutical drugs.
This came after the UN confirmed that it had received permission from Israel for about 100 more aid trucks to enter Gaza.
"We have requested and received approval for more trucks to enter today, many more than were approved yesterday," Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office, told a Geneva press briefing.
Asked to specify how many, he said "around 100."
No aid delivered yet, says UN
No humanitarian aid has been distributed yet in the Gaza Strip, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Tuesday, despite more supplies being dropped off on the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing.
"Today, one of our teams waited several hours for the Israeli green light to access the Kerem Shalom area and collect the nutrition supplies. Unfortunately, they were not able to bring those supplies into our warehouse," Dujarric said.
After an 11-week Israeli blockade, Israel cleared nine trucks of aid on Monday to enter Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing, although Laerke said just five of those entered Gaza.
"The next step is to collect them, and then they will be distributed through the existing system, the one that has proven itself," said Laerke, adding that those trucks contained baby food and nutritional products for children.
Malnutrition rates in Gaza have risen exponentially
Malnutrition rates in Gaza have risen during the Israeli blockade and could rise exponentially if food shortages continue, a health official at the UN Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, said at the same briefing.
"I have data until the end of April, and it shows malnutrition on the rise," Akihiro Seita, UNRWA Director of Health, told a Geneva press briefing. "And then the worry is that if the current food shortage continues, it will exponentially increase, and then get beyond our control."