An aid convoy has started entering into Gaza on Saturday, the first since the Israeli launched massive air strikes in the region and put a blockade after a surprise attack by Hamas.
The 20-truck convoy that passed through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt includes life-saving supplies provided by the Egyptian Red Crescent and the UN.
UN Humanitarian Affairs Coordinator Martin Griffith welcomed the entry of the aid convoy.
“I am confident that this delivery will be the start of a sustainable effort to provide essential supplies – including food, water, medicine and fuel – to the people of Gaza, in a safe, dependable, unconditional and unimpeded manner,” Mr. Griffiths said in a statement published on his official account on X, formerly Twitter.
The humanitarian aid follows days of hectic negotiations with Israel to ensure that the aid operation into Gaza resumes as quickly as possible and with the right conditions, he added.
The Rafah border crossing is the sole one open with Gaza, and hundreds of trucks have been waiting there to bring food, water, medical supplies and other essential items to the enclave, where supplies are running out.
In an update after 13 days of hostilities, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that according to the enclave’s authorities, the death toll in the Gaza Strip has reached 3,785, including at least 1,524 children, while over 12,000 have been injured.
OCHA said that “hundreds of additional fatalities” are believed to be trapped under the rubble, as “relentless bombardments” of the territory continues.
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