Israel says it is increasing the amount of humanitarian aid flowing into Gaza with the opening of the Kerem Shalom border crossing for inspections.

Aid will still pass into Gaza via the Rafah border crossing, where it will be transferred to international aid organizations.

However, the opening of the crossing will ease a bottleneck at the frontier.

"This morning, the first batch of humanitarian aid trucks underwent inspection at Kerem Shalom and is now en route to the Rafah Crossing," said COGAT, the Israeli defense ministry agency responsible for coordinating civilian matters in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. 

"This crucial step is set to expand the volume of aid reaching Gaza. We trust the UN did all the adjustments to receive and distribute the aid," COGAT tweeted on the social media platform X.

A day earlier, COGAT said the additional checkpoint would screen "trucks containing water, food, medical supplies and shelter equipment."