By JULIA FRANKEL

Associated Press

JERUSALEM-- The Israeli military stated Sunday that it was establishing a brand-new safe corridor to provide aid into southern Gaza. However days later, this self-declared "tactical pause" has actually brought little relief to desperate Palestinians.

The United Nations and international aid organizations say a breakdown in order has made the aid path unusable.

With countless truckloads of aid piled up, groups of armed guys are frequently blocking convoys, holding chauffeurs at gunpoint and gunning through their freight, according to a U.N. official who spoke on condition of privacy due to the fact that he was not licensed to brief the media on the concern.

The lawlessness is a significant challenge to aid distribution to main and southern Gaza-- where an approximated 1.3 million Palestinians displaced from Rafah, or majority of Gaza's entire population, are now safeguarding in camping tent camps and confined apartment or condos without appropriate food, water, or medical materials.

Here is a more detailed take a look at the security challenges facing the U.N. and help companies.

Israel's 'tactical time out' stymied

Israel stated Sunday it would observe day-to-day stops briefly in combat along a path stretching from Kerem Shalom-- the strip's only operational help crossing in the south-- to the neighboring city of Khan Younis. Before the time out, aid organizations had reported that the requirement to collaborate trucks' movement with the Israelis in an active combat zone was slowing aid distribution.

The head of the U.N.'s World Food Program said Thursday that the pause has actually made "no distinction at all" in help distribution efforts. "We have not been able to get in," stated Cindy McCain in an interview with Al-Monitor.

The U.N. official acquainted with the help effort said that there has been no sign of Israeli activity along the route. The U.N. tried to send a convoy of 60 trucks down the road Tuesday to get help at Kerem Shalom. 35 of the trucks were obstructed by armed males, the official said.

In current days, the groups have moved closer to the crossing and set up obstructions to stop trucks filled with products, the U.N. official stated. They have actually searched the pallets for smuggled cigarettes, an unusual luxury in an area where a single smoke can choose $25.

The rise in lawlessness is a result of growing desperation in Gaza and the power vacuum left by Hamas's subsiding power over the area, said Mkhaimar Abusada, an associate professor of government at Al-Azhar University in Gaza who is now in Cairo.

With the enclave's police force targeted by Israel, he said, criminal activity has reemerged as an untreated concern in Gaza.

" After Hamas came to power, one of the important things that they brought under their control was the lawlessness of the so-called big clans," said Abusada. "Now, that's left for the Palestinians by themselves to handle it. So as soon as again, we are seeing shootings between families, there are thefts, all the bad things are happening."

UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, utilized to deploy regional Palestinian cops to escort aid convoys, however many refused to continue serving after airstrikes killed at least eight policemans in Rafah, the agency said.

Because they are managed by Hamas, Israel states the police are genuine targets.

Is any aid still entering into Gaza?

The situation has mainly paralyzed aid distribution to the south-- especially considering that Gaza's close-by Rafah crossing with Egypt was closed when Israel invaded the city early last month.

The U.N. authorities said that 25 trucks of flour utilized the route Tuesday. Some personal industrial trucks likewise made it through-- many of which utilized armed security to discourage groups looking for to take their freight. A reporter stationed along the roadway Monday saw a minimum of 8 trucks go by, armed security guards riding on top.

Before Israel's offensive into the city of Rafah, hundreds of fuel trucks routinely got in the area.

The U.N. has now begun rerouting some fuel trucks through northern Gaza. Farhan Haq, a U.N. representative, stated 5 fuel trucks got in Gaza Wednesday. The U.N. humanitarian office reported that these were the first fuel deliveries since early June and materials remain scarce.

Help groups state only a ceasefire and a resuming of the Rafah crossing might significantly increase help circulation to the area.

The military body in charge of collaborating humanitarian help efforts, COGAT, did not react to numerous requests for comment.

Security issues likewise affect aid from U.S. pier job

The U.S. installed a pier off Gaza's coast last month, aiming to offer an extra route for help to get in Gaza. However the ambitious job has actually suffered duplicated logistical and security problems.

Because of rough seas, Cyprus and United States authorities said the pier was up and running again Thursday after being detached for a second time last week. COGAT said Thursday there were "numerous aid pallets waiting for collection and distribution by the U.N. help firms."

However there, too, security concerns are impeding circulation of aid.

The U.N. suspended its cooperation with the pier on June 9-- a day after reports swirled that the Israeli armed force had used the location in a hostage rescue operation that left over 270 Palestinians dead. Images of the operation revealed an Israeli military helicopter in what seemed the vicinity of the pier.

Both Israel and the US reject the pier was used in the operation. The perception that the pier was used for military purposes could endanger humanitarian workers, and threaten humanitarian groups' concepts of neutrality, the U.N. states.

Aid workers said they are working with the Israelis to find an option, however that the security burden falls squarely on Israel's shoulders.

Officials from the U.N. and other humanitarian companies, consisting of Samantha Power, head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, met with Israel's military chief and COGAT authorities this week to seek options.

USAID said afterward that the conference ended with promises of particular actions, however offered no information.

___

reporters Ellen Knickmeyer in Washington and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report