Jordan says Israel is placing ‘big impediments’ to aid for Palestinians

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said on Tuesday Israel was placing many obstacles to the entry of aid into Gaza, worsening the plight of Palestinians there.

Safadi, speaking at a press conference with his Australian counterpart Penny Wong, said the hurdles meant only 10% of the total needs of more than two million Gazans under siege were being covered.

“The reality now is that Israeli measures are preventing sufficient aid from arriving and only a fraction is being delivered,” he said.

Israel, which screens goods going into Gaza and holds back aid it deems to be used for military purposes by its enemy Hamas, denies hampering aid.

Israel was also preventing aid from reaching northern Gaza where Israel’s bombardment and its occupation for weeks had wiped out infrastructure and much of its residential buildings, Safadi said.

The United Nations humanitarian office said on Friday that Israeli authorities were systematically denying it access to northern Gaza to deliver aid and this had significantly hindered the humanitarian operation there.

via Reuters