81 trucks carrying aid enters Gaza, UN calls volume ‘woefully inadequate’

An Egyptian truck driver carrying humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip unties his cargo after inspection at the Kerem Shalom Crossing in southern Israel on Dec. 22. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

Eighty-one trucks carrying much-needed humanitarian aid crossed into the Gaza Strip Friday through Israel’s Kerem Shalom and Egypt’s Rafah crossings, the United Nations' UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The crossing in Israel had been closed for three days because of security incidents, including a Monday drone strike that killed four people, the agency said. The trucks that crossed Friday were carrying food and medicine.

However, the volume of aid remains "woefully inadequate," the agency said.

Martin Griffiths, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, has called for the fighting between Israel and Hamas to stop so aid can be delivered to Gazans, many who had fled south amid Israel's military offensive in the north.

In statement, Griffiths said “that this is an impossible situation for the people of Gaza and for those trying to help them. The fighting must stop."

Israel has been inspecting the aid trucks each day, resulting in a bottleneck which prevents the delivery of mass aid, U.N. officials have said.

Israel opened the Kerem Shalom crossing on Dec. 17 for the first time since the war's outbreak on Oct. 7.