After 11 weeks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government finally relented: this week,trucks have been allowed to drive into the Gaza Strip to bring humanitarian aid to the population, which is at risk of famine as the war continues to rage. Netanyahu said it was important that the "red line" of starvation not be crossed in order to maintain international support.

According to the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), an Israeli Defense Ministry unit that oversees civilian policy in the Palestinian occupied territories, 198 trucks carrying humanitarian aid passed through the Kerem Shalom crossing between May 20 and May 22. The border crossing is at the junction between two border sections — one between the Gaza Strip and Israel, the other between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. COGAT said that on May 20 and 21, 98 trucks had been inspected and 100 more on May 22. The humanitarian aid includes flour for bakeries, baby food, medical equipment and medicine.

Critics said this is but a "drop in the ocean." During the ceasefire earlier this year, which Israel broke in March, there were up to 600 trucks crossing the border into the Gaza Strip each day to supply the population of approximately 2 million.

Moreover, the United Nations said that it took some time before they were able to collect and start dispatching the supplies, but added that some bakeries had been able to start making bread again on Thursday.

The supplies got stuck at distribution points because of a lack of security clearance. Martin Frick, the head of the World Food Program (WFP) Global Office for Germany, told DW that it had been able to distribute the first lot of humanitarian aid. "That is a small glimmer of hope, but far too little........

© Deutsche Welle