Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Wednesday announced the opening of a new crossing in the north of the Gaza Strip.
Gallant told journalists in Tel Aviv that this was one of several steps intended to facilitate the delivery of significantly more aid supplies to the Palestinian territory.
The aim is to bring goods to the Gaza Strip more quickly via the port of Ashdod and to facilitate security checks. The new access in the north should reduce the pressure on the existing Kerem Shalom border crossing in the south of the Gaza Strip.
Aid deliveries via Jordan should also be increased, Gallant said, speaking of two routes and cooperation with the Jordanian Air Force.
Cooperation with international organizations should also be improved in order to avoid incidents such as the deadly attack on Gaza aid workers in future, he said.
Gallant also spoke about joint projects with the US in the area of aid deliveries from the sea and infrastructure projects such as water pipes.
"We want to flood Gaza with aid supplies and we expect to reach 500 trucks a day," the defence minister said. The aim is to facilitate security checks and improve cooperation with international partners.
Israel, which has been fighting the Palestinian militant organization Hamas since October, has been heavily criticized internationally for restricting humanitarian aid to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip.
According to international experts, famine, the worst form of a hunger crisis, is looming, especially in northern Gaza.
After a clear warning from Washington, Israel announced on Friday that it wanted to open the port of Ashdod and the Erez border crossing for aid transport in order to improve the supply situation in northern Gaza.
So far, however, the Erez border crossing remains closed. Gallant is now apparently referring to an alternative crossing closer to the Mediterranean Sea.
The Gaza war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel's history, carried out by terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups on October 7 in Israel near the border. More than 1,200 people were killed and, according to Israeli media, some 250 taken hostage in the Gaza Strip.
Israel responded with massive airstrikes and a ground offensive, which have killed more than 33,000 people, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, much of which has been left in ruins and on the brink of famine.