Israel's allowance of aid to Gaza 'matter of will', aid agencies say

Palestinian aid groups and their international counterparts working in the West Bank and Gaza released a joint statement on Friday calling Israel's blocking of aid into Gaza "a reckless escalation and a blatant violation of international humanitarian law", and that it is only a "matter of will" for Israel to re-open the crossings to trucks again. 

"The international community must act to end Israel’s deliberate obstruction of humanitarian relief, which amounts to collective punishment and the use of starvation as a weapon of war – a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions and a war crime under international law," the statement by the The Palestinian NGO Network and The Association of International Development Agencies said. 

"The recent ceasefire, though imperfect, provided a brief window for humanitarian operations to scale up... [and] Israel proved that enabling the delivery of aid was only a matter of will," the statement continued. 

"The claim that Gaza was 'flooded with aid' is both misleading and dangerous – while humanitarian actors worked to expand operations, the assistance that reached Gaza was nowhere sufficient to meet the overwhelming needs," the statement reads. 

"Humanitarian aid is not a bargaining chip. It is a fundamental right."