Jerusalem, May 13: The Israeli military has said that it has opened a new crossing to bring humanitarian aid into the famine-stricken Gaza Strip. In a press statement on Sunday, the military announced the opening of the "Western Erez crossing" between Israel and northern Gaza in coordination with the US, Xinhua news agency reported. According to the military, the new crossing is located west of the Erez crossing, closer to the seashore.
It added that the crossing was constructed by the Israeli military "as part of the effort to increase routes for aid to Gaza, particularly to the north of the strip". On Sunday, the military said it launched a large-scale operation in the area of Jabaliya in northern Gaza while continuing its operations in eastern Rafah and the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing. It stressed that it had called on the civilian population to evacuate from Jabaliya to shelters in western Gaza City.
The military noted that its Air Force attacked 150 sites throughout the enclave on Saturday. In early April, the Israeli government approved the temporary reopening of the Erez crossing, also known as the Beit Hanoun crossing to Palestinians, to allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. The over seven-month-long Israeli offensive in Gaza, which was launched in retaliation for a Hamas onslaught on southern Israeli sites, has led to at least 35,034 fatalities and 78,755 injuries in the besieged enclave, according to Gaza's health authorities on Sunday.
--IANS
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