Aid groups have collected humanitarian aid carried by about 90 trucks, out of a total of nearly 200 that have entered Gaza since Israel began allowing limited goods in earlier this week, the United Nations said Thursday.
Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the U.N. Humanitarian agency OCHA, said the trucks that entered carried medicine, wheat flour and nutrition supplies. Aid groups faced significant challenges distributing the aid because of insecurity, the risk of looting and coordination issues with Israeli authorities, Laerke added.
Under international pressure, Israel has allowed dozens of aid trucks into Gaza after blocking all food, medicine, fuel and other material for nearly three months. But the supplies have been sitting on the Gaza side of the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel.
Also Thursday, international leaders were reacting to the shooting of t , D.C., the previous day. The attack was seen by officials in Israel and the U.S. as the latest in a growing wave of antisemitism as Israel ramps up its offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Here's the latest:
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Italy condemns attack on Israeli embassy employees
鈥淎nti-Semitic violence that is the child of hatred against Jews is not acceptable and must be stopped,鈥 Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said in a statement.
He said Italy was committed to fighting all forms of hatred and discrimination and promoting 鈥渁 culture of respect and peaceful coexistence through education, remembrance and the firm defense of human rights.鈥
Macron reaches out to Israeli president after shootings
French President Emmanuel Macron says he has reached out to his Israeli counterpart in the wake of the killings of two Israeli Embassy staffers in Washington, in what the French leader called 鈥渁n anti-Semitic attack.鈥
鈥淭o President @Isaac_Herzog, I extended our thoughts to the families and loved ones of the victims,鈥 Macron posted on X.
Yemen鈥檚 Iran-backed Houthi rebels fire two missiles at Israel
The missiles were fired hours apart on Thursday, each time setting off nationwide air raid sirens.
The Israeli military said it intercepted both missiles, and there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. An Associated Press reporter heard a loud explosion in central Israel that might have been caused by an interceptor.
Israeli police said they were searching the Jerusalem area for debris.
have launched repeated missile attacks targeting Israel as well as international shipping in the Red Sea, portraying it as a response to Israel鈥檚 offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Most of the targeted ships had no relation to Israel or the conflict.
The United States against the Houthis earlier this month, saying the rebels had pledged to stop attacking ships. That agreement did not include attacks on Israel.
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France, EU condemn shooting outside Jewish museum in Washington
France鈥檚 foreign minister says the killing of , D.C. on Wednesday 鈥渋s an abhorrent act of antisemitic barbarity.鈥
In a post in English on X, the minister, Jean-No毛l Barrot, said: 鈥淣othing can justify such violence. My thoughts go to their loved ones, their colleagues, and the State of Israel.鈥
The European Union鈥檚 top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said: 鈥淭here is and should be no place in our societies for hatred, extremism, or antisemitism."
