In contrast, U.N. knowledge exhibits {that a} whole of 533 assist vehicles entered Gaza within the three days after Saturday. Extra broadly, U.N. figures present no improve within the day by day common of vehicles going into Gaza within the first week of April, in comparison with the earlier week.
The explanations for the discrepancy aren’t clear, however one is the differing strategies Israel and the United Nations use to trace vehicles, stated Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the U.N. humanitarian workplace.
Vehicles screened — and counted — by Israel on the two working border crossings normally enter Gaza solely half full, after Israeli inspectors prohibit a few of their contents, stated Mr. Laerke. As soon as inside Gaza, they’re unloaded, repacked as full vehicles and despatched to warehouses operated by the United Nations, which counts the variety of full vehicles that arrive, possible resulting in a decrease tally.
Different problems additionally imply that vehicles usually don’t go via a crossing and arrive at a warehouse in the identical day, which means the day by day counts at crossings and the warehouses usually don’t match, he stated.
In an announcement on Wednesday, COGAT criticized the U.N.’s “flawed counting technique,” which it referred to as “an try to hide their logistical distribution difficulties.”
Earlier Israeli guarantees to scale up assist haven’t enormously elevated deliveries. Underneath U.S. strain in mid-December, Israel reopened one crossing to Gaza, Kerem Shalom, for assist vehicles, committing to allow 200 vehicles a day to enter. However assist companies say that stringent Israeli inspections have saved the numbers far decrease than what is required.
And Mr. Laerke and different assist officers stated monumental challenges stay to distributing the help inside Gaza, notably to the north, the place Israel has denied entry for UNRWA, the primary U.N. reduction company working within the territory.
Aaron Boxerman contributed reporting.
