By Al-Fassel | 2023-12-06

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) on December 5 pledged more than $21 million in new humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza and the West Bank.

USAID Administrator Samantha Power made the announcement on a visit to the town of al-Arish, the gateway to the Rafah border crossing, which has recently been reopened but at limited capacity.

The new aid builds on the $100 million in US humanitarian assistance announced by President Joe Biden on October 18.

Power arrived in al-Arish with a delivery of 16.3 metric tons of medical supplies, winter clothing and food assistance airlifted by the US Department of Defense from Jordan, USAID said.

This was the second US aid airlift from Jordan to Egypt to address immediate needs on the ground in Gaza. On November 28, the United States sent three military aircraft carrying more than 27 tons of United Nations (UN) supplies to Egypt during a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas.

This aid is in addition to more than 500,000 pounds of US food assistance delivered the previous week.

"During the pause in hostilities last week, we saw important and overdue progress toward addressing the grave humanitarian crisis in Gaza," Power told reporters.

"The United States is now doing everything in our power to advance that progress," she said.

Power said she spoke with the Egyptian Red Crescent and UN officials on ways to speed up the pace of aid getting into Gaza.

"The levels of aid reached during the pause need to be the bare minimum of what goes in going forward," she said.

Overcoming hurdles

The funding announced December 5 "will support the provision of essential hygiene and shelter supplies, food, and market-based assistance for more than 120,000 people," USAID said.

"In addition, the funding will support psychosocial care and critical health services for the overwhelmed health system in Gaza where approximately 60% of hospitals are not operational," it said.

The funding will also support the establishment of an NGO-operated field hospital in Gaza, it added.

"With partners throughout the region and across the globe, the United States has been leading efforts to address the grave and growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza and increase the flow of life-saving humanitarian assistance to civilians."

"The United States continues to work around the clock to overcome diplomatic and operational hurdles for humanitarian access, present solutions to emerging humanitarian assistance challenges and significantly scale up this response to where it needs to be," USAID said.

In addition, the US government has pleaded with Israel to do more to protect civilians and to allow humanitarian assistance and fuel into Gaza.

The US State Department said Monday that Israel, after US appeals, had begun to let badly needed fuel into Gaza and that discussions are ongoing with Israel to increase the amount of fuel being allowed in.

Hamas militants launched a terrorist attack on southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking more than 200 hostages.

The UN estimates that 1.7 million of Gaza's 2.4 million population have been displaced by the fighting.