Netanyahu relents and announces that he will open a passage and use a port for more aid to enter Gaza

The warning from the United States to Israel that the continuity of its support depends on the measures it takes to protect civilians in the war in Gaza and the echoes of the air attack that killed seven aid workers from the NGO of chef José Andrés, World Central Kitchen, took effect this Friday. The political and security Cabinet led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided on a series of measures – for which no date has been given – that his own allies, such as Washington, and humanitarian organizations have been demanding for a long time. Israel will open the Erez border crossing, which was attacked on October 7 and was the only one that a few thousand Palestinians could cross to work in Israel, go to hospitals or visit relatives in the West Bank without having to leave through Egypt. Since no one can cross it anymore and it was damaged in the attack, it will be improvised into a goods crossing.

Erez faces directly north, the Gaza area where at least 210,000 people are on the brink of famine, according to the United Nations. Its opening is not only important because it is where hunger wreaks the most havoc, but also because the few convoys that Israel has been allowing to arrive by land from the south risk assaults by hungry crowds or armed clans along the way.

Israel will also once again receive humanitarian aid through the port of Ashdod, about 30 kilometers north of the Strip. It is one of the most important in the country and the natural entry of goods for Gaza until October 7, when commercial goods flowed and four times as many trucks of humanitarian aid entered.

The decision to use hunger as a weapon of war and the sensitivity in Israel to see the goods arrive at the port (the majority of the population opposes the entry of humanitarian aid while there are Israeli hostages in Gaza) led to its suspension. In fact, ultra-nationalist groups have demonstrated there to prevent it, just as at the only Israeli crossing through which aid was entering on a regular basis: Kerem Shalom, which faces the south of the Strip. The supplies will enter through three border crossings: Erez and Kerem Shalom, with Israel; and Rafah, with Egypt.

Israel will also “significantly” increase access to aid provided by Jordan, an important ally of Washington. “This increase in aid will prevent a humanitarian crisis and is essential to ensure the continuation of the fighting and achieve the objectives of the war,” Netanyahu's office said in a statement. The objectives are the return of all the hostages (134 remain and at least a quarter are corpses), completely destroy Hamas politically and militarily and ensure that Gaza “does not represent a threat again.”

The decision comes just a few hours after US President Joe Biden and Netanyahu spoke by phone for the first time since the death of the WCK aid workers, one of whom had American nationality. The organization also has its headquarters in the country. The images and the difficulty of explaining the launch of three non-simultaneous missiles – one against each of the vehicles with the NGO logo on the roof and which had warned of the route and time – made the call one of the most complicated among both leaders, who have known each other for decades and whose relationship reached its lowest point due to the Gaza war. The White House has made it clear in a statement that Israel has taken these measures “at the request of President” Biden.

Miriam Marmur, Director of Public Advocacy at Gisha, an Israeli NGO dedicated to protecting the freedom of movement of Palestinians, with a special focus on Gaza, describes the measures as “necessary” and “relatively important”, although “insufficient”. Marmur points out the paradox that authorities who have been saying for months that they do not place any limitations on the entry of humanitarian aid now approve them. “These are measures that we had pointed out and an example of political decisions that were being made that directly hindered the entry of aid,” she says by phone.

Gisha is one of the NGOs that took the State of Israel to the Supreme Court on Thursday, for the first time in almost half a year of war, for its obstacles to humanitarian aid. At the hearing, in which the court gave Netanyahu's government six days to respond to a series of questions, he presented a document that proved the reopening hours before of a drinking water pipeline for the capital, closed at the beginning of the war. , when Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said: “There will be no electricity, no food, no gas, everything is closed. “We are fighting against human animals and we act accordingly.”

Marmur points this out as an example of the inconsistencies in the State's argument, which consists of pointing out that it is not the occupying power of Gaza since it withdrew its soldiers and settlers in 2005 (technically it still is), so it lacks direct responsibility for civilians, and that it is also fulfilling its obligations under international law on the protection of civilians in the event of armed conflict. “It was known that there is a serious lack of water, there is no reason why the decision was not made before pressure,” says Marmur, recalling that the serious malnutrition data in northern Gaza is due to the fact that The same Israeli army did not allow the passage of many convoys and “the absence of effective protection” for NGOs and UN agencies to distribute it, as shown by the death of the NGO collaborators of chef José Andrés.

Israel considers that its responsibility ends with allowing the aid to be introduced, while NGOs insist that it is part of their obligations to ensure that it is distributed in an orderly manner.

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