Israel says 276 aid trucks with food, medical aid entered Gaza

April 19 (UPI) -- The Israeli military on Friday said that 276 trucks carrying aid entered the Gaza Strip on Thursday.

The trucks were a mixture of public and private aid, with 87 of them containing food, Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, said in a statement.

Four tankers with gas for cooking were also among the convoy cleared by Israel to enter the Gaza Strip, as well as nine trucks carrying medical aid bound for the Emirati Hospital.

COGAT and the Israel Defense Forces added that cargo from hundreds more trucks remains on the Gaza side of Israel's Kerem Shalom checkpoint.

"The contents of more than 700 humanitarian aid trucks remain on the Gazan side of the Kerem Shalom crossing after undergoing thorough security inspections and are waiting to be collected and distributed by U.N. agencies to the civilians of Gaza," the IDF said on X.

COGAT added that IDF will pause military operations for four hours Friday in the Tel Al-Saltan neighborhood in the southern Gaza city of Rafah to facilitate distribution of the aid.

The announcements came after eight trucks loaded with flour drove into Gaza Thursday through the Kerem Shalom crossing, marking the first U.N. World Food Program trucks since the opening of Israel's Ashdod port to international humanitarian aid.

Airdrops of humanitarian aid continue to flow into Gaza, with 144 pallets distributed Thursday.

The United Nations in March reported that Northern Gaza may already be experiencing a famine while the remainder of the territory is headed in that direction

Between 677,000 and 1.1 million people are experiencing catastrophic food insecurity, the United Nations said.

Samantha Power, administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, said last week that the U.N. assessment was credible and said "yes" when asked by Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, if that meant "famine is already occurring" in Gaza.