Hundreds of Israeli protesters have blocked some humanitarian aid trucks from entering Gaza for a third day.<\/p>\n
Demonstrators, including families of hostages still held in Gaza, waved Israeli flags at a key crossing and chanted against “aiding the enemy”.<\/p>\n
The protesters say they are demanding no aid for Gaza until all of the hostages are released.<\/p>\n
This comes despite a US demand that aid to civilians in Gaza be allowed to enter “without interruption”.<\/p>\n
For a third consecutive day, the protesters descended on the Kerem Shalom border crossing between Israel and Gaza to try to block humanitarian aid from entering the enclave.<\/p>\n
A queue of trucks carrying aid supplies, some of them flying Egyptian flags, idled for hours at the crossing as the protesters urged the government to stop aid supplies until the remaining captives held by Hamas are freed.<\/p>\n
The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that on Wednesday – the first day of the protests – only nine trucks were able to cross at Kerem Shalom, while 114 were diverted to the Rafah crossing in Egypt.<\/p>\n
The UN said that only 153 trucks had entered Gaza on Wednesday, which was well below what had been able to enter in recent weeks.<\/p>\n
The Israeli government is facing growing international pressure to allow more humanitarian relief into Gaza, combined with intense domestic pressure to secure the release of the hostages.<\/p>\n