Gaza aid truck blocked by Israel over children's medical kit scissors

The head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said an aid truck that was loaded with humanitarian aid for Gaza was turned away by Israel because it contained scissors used in a children's medical kits.

Israel has limited the entry of aid into Gaza throughout the war and placed bans on items that can be used for 'dual use' including instruments and materials essential for medical workers, who are battling with injuries from air strikes and manutrition.

In a statement on X, the UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini said the entire population of Gaza depends on humanitarian assistance for survival with cases of starvation reported and 31,184 Palestinians killed and 72,889 injured since 7 October.

"A truck loaded with aid has just been turned back because it had scissors used in children's medical kits," he said.

"Medical scissors are now added to a long list of banned items the Israeli Authorities classify as 'for dual use'."

Lazzarini said very little aid is reaching Gaza and Israeli limits are increasing. The clearance of humanitarian supplies and the delivery of essential and critical items to enclave now needs to be accelerated to meet the needs of the population, he added.

"The lives of 2 million people depend on that, there is no time to waste," he said.

Despite millions of Palestinians needing life-saving resources, aid deliveries have been webbed up within Israeli red tape, and the number of deliveries has been delayed and is decreasing.

Israel's military agency, COGAT, which coordinates civilian affairs in the occupied Palestinian territory accused the UN chief of "lying" and claimed more than 16,000 aid trucks had entered Gaza since 7 October, although it did not mention this specific shipment.

#Gaza: an entire population depends on humanitarian assistance for survival. Very little comes in & restrictions increase.

A truck loaded with aid has just been turned back because it had scissors used in children’s medical kits.

Medical scissors are now added to a long list of… pic.twitter.com/Obpsi9bVkV

— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) March 11, 2024

Israel's screening requirements have delayed supplies from getting into Gaza from Egypt, where goods are sourced or have arrived through El-Arish International Airport.

Despite humanitarian workers insisting there is enough aid to support the people of Gaza, they say it's just stuck outside the border in a backlog of deliveries tied up in Israeli bureaucracy.

Deliveries have also been jeopardised by safety concerns amid gunfire and looting.

The US military executed a new airdrop of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza yesterday, delivering over 36,800 meals by parachute.

But the airdrop sparked criticism from Palestinians who called it inadequate and hypocritical when the US funds and supplies Israel’s military… pic.twitter.com/b729Yq0zoN

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) March 6, 2024

Israeli protesters have also blocked vital aid at the border with Gaza to preventing essential supplies like food, fuel, water, and medicine from entering.

Israeli forces have also fired on protesters collecting aid in Gaza, including one massacre near Gaza City on 29 February when over 100 people were killed.

Euro-Med Monitor also confirmed that the Israeli army gunfire was responsible for most deaths in a massacre of Palestinian civilians waiting for humanitarian aid in western Gaza on 29 March.