Israel has agreed to open a second border crossing into Gaza to allow more humanitarian aid into the territory, according to a senior White House official, a move that comes as Israel faces growing international pressure to limit civilian casualties in its war with Hamas.
The Israeli government will allow humanitarian aid to start flowing into the Gaza Strip through Kerem Shalom, a border crossing near Israel's southern border with Egypt, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement Friday.
Kerem Shalom will join the Rafah border crossing as the only two points of entry for food, fuel, medical supplies and other humanitarian aid reaching Gaza, where Israel is waging a military operation against the militant group Hamas in response to its Oct. 7 attack.
Sullivan called Israel's decision to open the Kerem Shalom border crossing a "significant step" to aid Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
"We will continue to work closely with Egypt and other partners on the delivery and distribution of humanitarian assistance through Rafah crossing, and we hope that this new opening will ease congestion and help facilitate the delivery of life-saving assistance to those who need it urgently in Gaza," Sullivan said.
Israel had been facing mounting pressure from top U.S. officials, humanitarian aid groups and others to open the Kerem Shalom border crossing.
President Joe Biden raised the issue in recent phone conversations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Sullivan said. Sullivan said it was also an "important topic of discussion" in his meetings with Israeli officials this week in Israel. He did not say when the border crossing would open.
The office of the Israeli prime minister said in a statement Friday that Israel had "approved today a temporary measure" to allow trucks to unload humanitarian assistance on the Gaza side of the Kerem Shalom border crossing.
Humanitarian aid has been flowing steadily into Gaza since Israel opened the Rafah border crossing several weeks after the start of the conflict, with as many as 200 or more trucks a day at times bringing medicine, water and other much-needed supplies into the Gaza Strip.
But aid groups and U.S. officials have warned that Gaza isn't getting the supplies it needs amid a relentless air and ground campaign by Israel.
More than 18,600 people have died in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war, according to Gaza health officials. Approximately 1,200 people in Israel were killed and 240 people were taken hostage by Hamas in its Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
The rising civilian death toll in Gaza led Biden this week to level his harshest criticism of Israel since the start of the war. Biden told donors at a campaign reception Tuesday that Israel was losing support internationally because of its "indiscriminate bombing" in Gaza and called on the Israeli government to "change" course.
Biden administration officials also have privately urged Israel to shift from the current phase of fighting to "low intensity" operations against Hamas.
The U.S. has called for Israel to transition to a "more targeted, surgical, intelligence-driven" military campaign in Gaza, said a senior administration official, who spoke on background to discuss meetings between the U.S. and Israel.
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Daniel Bush is a White House Correspondent for Newsweek. He reports on President Biden, national politics and foreign affairs. Biden ... Read more
