The United Nations said on Tuesday that Israel is disrupting food distribution inside the Gaza Strip, where famine looms, more than other humanitarian aid.

“UN-coordinated food deliveries are more vulnerable to obstruction or denial of access... than any other humanitarian mission,” Jens Laerke, spokesman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said in Geneva.

He added that this means, citing statistics for the month of March, that “food convoys expected to head, especially to the north, where 70% of the population is suffering from famine-like conditions, are three times more likely to be rejected than other humanitarian convoys.”

Israel claimed to have inspected and entered 741 aid trucks into the Gaza Strip “during the past two days,” adding that “only 267 aid trucks were distributed by United Nations relief agencies inside Gaza (including 146 trucks carrying food supplies),” considering that “aid is available, Distribution is important.”

But Laerke stressed that these statistics are “meaningless” for several reasons.

“First of all, the trucks inspected by Israel are generally only half full. This is a requirement I have set,” the OCHA spokesman said, explaining that once these trucks are inspected, the United Nations redistributes the aid inside them to take advantage of the space, so it is natural that "The numbers never match."

He added, "Secondly, counting and comparing the trucks inspected and the aid provided on a daily basis... does not make any sense because it does not take into account the delay that occurs" between these two stages.

The reason for these delays is due in particular to the operating hours of the crossing points and to the fact that Israel requires that “Egyptian drivers and their trucks not be present in the same area at the same time as Palestinian drivers and their trucks” who receive the goods.

After that, the convoys must obtain a license from the Israeli authorities to move in Gaza.

Laerke added that the main problem is obtaining permits and guarantees that aid distribution can proceed unhindered.

He explained that while Israel complains of poor UN distribution, "half of the convoys that we tried to send to the north carrying food were rejected by these same authorities."

The OCHA spokesman stressed that “the commitment of the warring parties, especially Israel as the occupying power in Gaza, to facilitate and ensure the arrival of humanitarian aid does not stop at the borders. The matter also includes movements inside Gaza.”

Israel announced last week that it wants to allow aid to be delivered “temporarily” to Gaza through the port of Ashdod, located 40 kilometers north of Gaza, and the “Erez” crossing between southern Israel and the northern Gaza Strip.