Israeli demonstrators converged on the Israeli side of the Allenby Bridge near Jericho on Monday, the only official crossing between Jordan and Judea and Samaria, to prevent aid supplies destined for Gaza from entering.

The Tzav 9 (Order 9) grassroots movement organized the protest.

Tzav 9 is a reference to the Tzav 8 emergency mobilization notices received by Israel Defense Forces reservists on Oct. 7.

The protesters were said to include relatives of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, although the Hostage and Missing Families Forum could not confirm the report.

Last week, protesters from Tzav 9 succeeded in blocking aid at the Nitzana crossing between Israel and Egypt before security forces forcibly removed them a few hours later. 

“It is impossible, on the one hand, to fight Hamas to return the hostages and, on the other hand, to send it food and fuel,” Rachel Touitou, a spokeswoman for Tzav 9, recently told JNS. “We cannot both fight Hamas and feed it.”

The United States confirmed on Monday that the quantity of humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip had substantially increased over the past few days.

Israel recently ramped up efforts to facilitate deliveries, with the opening of a new land crossing to the Gaza Strip designed primarily to facilitate the entry of foreign aid.

The new crossing, located between Kibburz Zikim and the Gazan village of As-Siafa, will reduce travel time for trucks entering Gaza after picking up shipments at the Port of Ashdod some 25 miles away, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said last week. The goal, according to Gallant, is to have at least 500 trucks a day entering the Strip.

Near-daily protests took place following Israel’s Security Cabinet decision on Dec. 15 to approve the opening of the Kerem Shalom crossing for the transfer of aid into the southern Strip after intense U.S. and international pressure.

All the Israeli crossings to Gaza had been shuttered after Hamas’s Oct. 7 invasion, with only Egypt’s Rafah crossing from Sinai remaining open.

In late December and early January, protesters attempted to block trucks at Kerem Shalom, leading to clashes with security personnel.

In early February, after two border crossings were declared closed military zones, activists moved their operations to Ashdod Port, where they blocked trucks destined for the Strip.