”There are a bit more trucks than in the past but also the deliveries of fuel have improved as well as the situation of water pipelines,’’ an Eu spokesperson said.

The European Union said that ‘’some progress’’ in the delivery of humanitatian aid to Gaza has been made. ‘’Nevertheless it is still insufficient,’’ state an EU spokesperson on Thursday.

‘’There is a couple of examples that I can give you.  I dont’ want to speak about the number of trucks entering Gaza, it doesn’t make any sense, it can change every hour, every day. There are a bit more trucks than in the past but also the deliveries of fuel have improved as well as the situation of water pipelines,’’ EU spokesperson Eva Hrncirova told journalists during the midday briefing.

‘’On a technical level, we are obviously engaged in talks with Israel and we try to explain to them our points of views but the amount of aid that is getting to Gaza is insufficient,’’ she said.

‘’We talk with Israel and we repeat all the time that humanitarian aid cannot be politicized and used as a tool of war our conlict. And we demand access for our partners,for the humanitarian workers because there is an unfolding famine in Gaza and the situation is very critical,’’ she added.

EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar reached a ‘’common understanding’’ last July to ‘’significantly’’ increase humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip.

Asked what the EU can do regarding the fact that Hamas is taking the aid for its own profit, which is one of the problems regarding the delivery of the aid to the Gazans, the spokesperson replied: ‘’We can hardly control the situation in Gaza if we are not allowed to be there. Our people are in Jerusalem. The Director General of ECHO (the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations) was in the region but was not allowed to go into Gaza due to security reasons, so we can hardly say what is the situation on the spot. We are engaged with the Israeli authorities and we are trying to explain the reasons why we need tob e on the spot because we work with our partnersa and we would like our partners to deliver the aid according tot he standards of the international humanitarian law. So its in the hands of Israeli authorities.’’

Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) last Thursday denied claims by aid groups that Jerusalem was blocking their request to bring in food.

The Defense Ministry unit said Jerusalem was working to facilitate aid to Gaza while the Hamas terrorist organization seeks to exploit such aid to build military strength and tighten its control over the population.

“This is sometimes done under the cover of certain international aid groups, knowingly or unknowingly,” said COGAT which coordinates humanitarian efforts, including aid, medical supplies, water, field hospitals, and patient evacuations in Gaza.

In response, Israel’s defense establishment developed a new aid mechanism to ensure that assistance reaches the population rather than Hamas. Under this system, organizations must undergo a structured registration process, including providing a list of their Gaza-based staff for prior security screening.

COGAT stressed that the registration process is based on clear professional and security criteria designed to preserve the integrity of humanitarian efforts and prevent terrorist infiltration. “It is a transparent, clear process that was presented to all organizations in advance,” it said.

Refusal by some aid organizations to share the required information and cooperate raises “serious concerns about their intentions and the possibility of links between the organization or its employees and Hamas,” the statement continued.

By contrast, nearly 20 international organizations that complied with the procedure are bringing aid into Gaza regularly and in full cooperation with Israel. As proof, COGAT noted that about 300 truckloads of humanitarian aid enter the Gaza Strip each day, via registered organizations.

More than 100 international aid organizations released a sharply worded statement earlier Thursday accusing Israel of blocking humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

The signatories claim that millions of dollars’ worth of humanitarian supplies, including food, medicine, water and emergency equipment, were sitting in warehouses in Jordan, Egypt and the Israeli city of Ashdod.

They argue that the registration mechanism introduced in March is illegal, dangerous for staff safety, damaging to the independence of aid groups and intended to limit humanitarian work.