THE Israel stops processing orders from traders to import food to Gauzeaccording to 12 people involved in the trade, blocking a route that in the last six months has supplied more than half of the besieged Palestinian territory’s supplies.
Note that since October 11, Gaza-based traders importing food from Israel and the West Bank have lost access to a system introduced in the spring by the Coordinating Committee for Government Activities of the Territory (COGAT), the Ministry of Defense body that oversees aid and trade missions and has not received a response to attempts to contact the agency, the sources said.
The move took the flow of goods into Gaza to its lowest level since the start of the war, according to a Reuters analysis of official Israeli data. Details of the disruption to the transport of commercial goods to Gaza have not been previously reported..
COGAT did not respond to Reuters’ questions about commercial food imports and aid to Gaza. The agency says it is doing everything it can to ensure that enough aid reaches the coastal enclave and that Israel does not block the entry of humanitarian aid. He rejects claims that Israel blocked supplies.
Between from October 1st to October 16ththe total flow of remittances to Gaza — including aid and commercial goods — has fallen to an average of 29 trucks per day, according to COGAT statistics.
This is compared to daily average of 175 trucks between May and September, the numbers show. Trade missions — goods purchased from local traders, transported by truck after immediate approval from the Coordinating Commission for Government Activities of the Territory (COGAT), and then sold in Gaza markets — represented around 55% of the total during this period.
Two sources involved in food supply report that the reason for the suspension of trade missions it was because Israel was concerned that the terrorist group Hamas was receiving revenue from imports.
ONE a Hamas spokesman refuses what the organization stole food or used it to obtain revenue and said he was trying to ensure the distribution of aid to Gaza.
The apparent closure of the trading system came as Israel launched a new military operation against Hamas in northern Gaza, a parallel development that has hampered the provision of humanitarian aid. The UN World Food Program said in a statement on Sunday that the operation had suspended all cross-border aid deliveries to the north for at least two weeks this month.
The sharp drop in the volume of aid to Gaza led the United States to threaten to end military support for Israel.
Following international criticism, COGAT said in statements this week that Israel had allowed dozens of aid trucks to enter Gaza, including dozens through crossings in the north. He did not provide full details or respond to Reuters’ requests for information for this story.
Source: Times of Israel