: [POST-BROADCAST CORRECTION: In an earlier version of this story, we incorrectly refer to Rachel Norris, Gaza director for Doctors Without Borders. In fact, the person interviewed was Claire Manera, emergency director for Doctors Without Borders.]
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Jordan has been a hub for humanitarian aid going to Gaza. There are several reasons for this. The kingdom has a peace treaty with Israel, it's a key ally of the United States and it's also just a few hours' drive from the Gaza border. All of that made it a useful place from which to stage supplies, supplies that Israel no longer allows to pass into Gaza. NPR's Jane Arraf reports.
(SOUNDBITE OF VEHICLES HONKING)
JANE ARRAF, BYLINE: In an industrial area on the outskirts of the Jordanian capital, warehouses for the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees - UNRWA - are packed to the rafters. But there's nothing going in or out. Israel banned all aid from entering Gaza starting in March. It says aid was being stolen by the militant group Hamas, although the U.N. and other aid groups say there was no widespread diversion. So just a few hours' drive from the Gaza border, $24 million worth of aid has been stranded at these UNRWA warehouses for months.
JONATHAN FOWLER: We're looking at boxes of food here, which have been sitting here, you know, in some cases since January. And unfortunately, their expiry dates are starting to approach.
ARRAF: That's Jonathan Fowler with UNRWA in Jordan.
FOWLER: Some of the food, you know, were arriving at expiration in July. Flour - you know, we have a quantity of flour here, which is due to expire.
ARRAF: Two hundred thousand tons of flour, in fact. While some of the other food can potentially be distributed to refugees within Jordan, the flour would likely be dumped.
(SOUNDBITE OF PACKAGE RUSTLING)
ARRAF: Fowler opens up one of the cardboard boxes. There are lentils, canned fish, chickpeas. And they're similar to more than 100 million meals other aid organizations say they have stuck on the Israeli-Gaza border. Israel cites security reasons for barring aid but doesn't give details. In the meantime, hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of aid paid for through public and private donations molders in storage. This week, Israel implemented a new U.S.-backed aid plan involving military contractors and delivering limited amounts of food in just four locations.
SEAN CARROLL: When you have armed personnel manning humanitarian sites and you have people desperately hungry and in need of aid and not enough aid to meet the need, that's a very volatile combination.
ARRAF: That's Sean Carroll, president of Anera, the biggest U.S.-based nongovernmental aid group. Now much of Anera's food is sitting in trucks on the Gaza border. Inside Gaza, even basic supplies like painkillers have run out, says Rachel Norris (ph), a director at Doctors Without Borders. We reached her in Gaza.
CLAIRE MANERA: You know, it's heartbreaking when I'm in the hospital, like I was today, and you see children in agony.
ARRAF: The Israeli military, asked about the restrictions on aid from Jordan and Egypt, said it had no details. A U.S. State Department spokesperson, speaking anonymously, in line with policy, said reports that Israel was barring aid from Jordan or Egypt were absolutely false.
(SOUNDBITE OF METAL CLANGING)
ARRAF: In Amman, a truck outside the UNRWA warehouse was loaded with boxes of mattresses. U.N. staff said it was sent back from the border months ago. Israel didn't explain why.
Jane Arraf, NPR News, Amman.
(SOUNDBITE OF FLAWED MANGOES' "RUN ON SENTENCE (ACOUSTIC)") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
