Israeli military announces opening of new crossing for aid to reach Gaza

Palestinians are seen at a temporary camp in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on May 10, 2024. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

JERUSALEM, May 12 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli military announced on Sunday that it has opened a new crossing to bring humanitarian aid into the famine-stricken Gaza Strip.

In a press release, the military announced the opening of the "Western Erez crossing" between Israel and northern Gaza in coordination with the United States.

According to the military, the new crossing is located west of the Erez crossing, closer to the seashore.

A Palestinian boy stands outside a tent at a temporary camp in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on May 10, 2024. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

It added that the crossing was constructed by the Israeli military "as part of the effort to increase routes for aid to Gaza, particularly to the north of the strip."

Also on Sunday, the military said it launched a large-scale operation in the area of Jabaliya in northern Gaza while continuing its operations in eastern Rafah and the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing. It stressed that it had called on the civilian population to evacuate from Jabaliya to shelters in western Gaza City.

A Palestinian woman evacuated from Rafah prepares food at a beach in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on May 10, 2024. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

The military noted that its Air Force attacked 150 sites throughout the enclave in the past day.

In early April, the Israeli government approved the temporary reopening of the Erez crossing, also known as the Beit Hanoun crossing to Palestinians, to allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza.

The over seven-month-long Israeli offensive in Gaza, which was launched in retaliation for a Hamas onslaught on southern Israeli sites, has led to at least 35,034 fatalities and 78,755 injuries in the besieged enclave, according to Gaza's health authorities on Sunday.