Jordan sends 50 humanitarian aid trucks to Gaza

AMMAN, Jordan

Jordan said Thursday it dispatched a new humanitarian aid convoy to the Gaza Strip as the Israeli army continues its onslaught against the Palestinian enclave amid international warnings of a looming famine.

“A fresh humanitarian aid convoy has crossed into Gaza, destined for our fellow citizens,” the Hashemite Charity Organization said in a statement.

The convoy was organized jointly by the Jordanian Armed Forces and the Hashemite Charity Organization.

“The convoy, comprising 50 trucks, operated in partnership with the World Food Programme and received contributions from grassroots campaigns and select Jordanian institutions,” it said.

The statement did not note the specific border crossing through which the convoy entered. Meanwhile, Israel has continued to enforce closures at the Rafah crossing since May 7, with the Kerem Shalom crossing also closed since May.

Jordan maintains three crossings with Israel: Sheikh Hussein Bridge, or the Jordan River from the Israeli side; King Hussein Bridge, or Allenby from the Israeli side and Wadi Araba, or the Yitzhak Rabin from the Israeli side.

Due to Israeli-imposed restrictions and violations of international law, Palestinians in Gaza face severe shortages of food, water and medicine. The crisis has escalated to hunger-related fatalities, particularly in Gaza City and northern Gaza.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.

More than 37,700 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and over 86,400 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Over eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.