Israel to open new aid routes into Gaza

The Erez Gate in northern Gaza and Ashdod Port will be temporarily re-opened for the first time since the start of the war.

More aid from Jordan will be allowed to enter via the Kerem Shalom Crossing.

It comes hours after Joe Biden spoke with Israel’s PM for the first time since seven aid workers were killed.

According to a readout of a phone call between the US President and Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden warned that Israel must take steps to prevent civilian harm and humanitarian suffering if it wanted to maintain US support.

It is understood that the re-opening of the corridors was specifically requested by Biden in the phone call.

Biden essentially gave the Israeli government an ultimatum – take concrete steps to prevent civilian harm and ensure safety for aid workers or US policy in respect of Gaza would change.

This was a significant shift in US policy – the first time that Washington had attempted to leverage American aid in order to influence the conduct of the war in Gaza.

Seven people working for the food aid charity World Central Kitchen (WCK) were killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza on Monday.

The vehicles were around 2.5km (1.5 miles) apart and all three were hit during the attack.

Israel’s military apologised and called the attack a tragic mistake. It has promised a full investigation.

Netanyahu has faced rising international and domestic anger at Israel’s conduct in Gaza.

A long line of lorries filled with aid has been backing up on the Egyptian side of the border with Rafah for months as they can only enter Gaza after a complex and bureaucratic series of Israeli checks.

The absence of adequate humanitarian supplies has forced Jordan, the US and the UK to drop aid from the air – the least effective way to deliver humanitarian supplies.

Airdrops have also proved dangerous – Palestinians have been crushed when parachutes fail and have drowned as they try to swim to pallets that have landed in the sea.

Much of the Gaza Strip has been devastated during the Israeli military operations that began after Hamas-led gunmen attacked southern Israel on 7 October, killing about 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages.

More than 33,000 people have been killed in Gaza since then, the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry says.

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