Palestinian Mortar Fire Stops Humanitarian Aid Shipments to Gaza — Again

Mortar fire from terrorists in Gaza at the Kerem Shalom border crossing with Israel halted humanitarian aid shipments to the Palestinians again on Wednesday.

It was the second time in as many days that aid shipments were halted due to attacks.

The Times of Israel reported:

Shipments of humanitarian aid bound for the Gaza Strip were again halted today after terrorists in the enclave fired mortar shells at the Kerem Shalom Crossing, Israel’s military liaison to the Palestinians says.

The humanitarian aid had been donated by Jordan and included medical equipment for a hospital sponsored by Amman in the Strip, according to the military liaison, known formally as the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories.

While trucks were going through the crossing into beleaguered Gaza, at least three mortar shells were fired toward the terminal “and it was decided to halt the entrance of shipments until further notice,” COGAT says.

On Tuesday, as Breitbart News reported, an Israeli soldier helping to escort the aid convoy was wounded by mortar fire at the crossing. When the crossing was opened again Wednesday, the mortar fire resumed, and it was closed.

The humanitarian cost of the ongoing conflict is exacerbated by the fact that some 20% of rockets fired by Palestinian terrorists land in Gaza. Some of them kill civilians or damage crucial infrastructure.

Update: The U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), a refugee institution devoted to the Palestinians, claimed Wednesday that Israel had withheld aid to Gaza, which Israel dismissed as a “lie.”

The Trump administration cut U.S. funding to UNRWA, which the Biden administration has promised to restore.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new e-book, The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it). His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.