Aid delivery waits to enter Gaza from Egypt at Rafah crossing

19 October 2023 18:48

About 20 trucks carrying food, water and medical supplies may be allowed to enter Gaza in the coming days.

Israel cut electricity, and most water and stopped deliveries of food and medicine to Gaza following an attack by Hamas militants on October 7, BBC reports.

Since then, Gaza's 2.1 million residents have been rapidly running out of basic supplies.

But leading humanitarian organisations warn that aid delivery will only be a drop in the ocean.

"The UN has reported that a minimum of 100 trucks of humanitarian assistance are needed in order to support the 2.3 million civilians living in Gaza", Shaina Low of the Norwegian Refugee Council told the BBC.

Currently, only 20 are believed to be due to be allowed in.

Even before the war started, 1.2 million people relied on food aid from UNWRA, Juliette Touma, the UN body's spokeswoman in Amman, told the BBC.

"Poverty is very, very high in the Gaza Strip. Already before the war, the situation was desperate. Now it is becoming tragic," she said.

The agreement to deliver a limited amount of aid via Egypt's Rafah crossing was reached by US President Joe Biden and Egypt's president, Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, on October 18.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Wednesday that Israel would not prevent supplies going from Egypt to the civilian population in southern Gaza.

However, the government only agreed to allow food, water and medical supplies - not other much-needed supplies like fuel.

A UN report on Gaza said that fuel is a necessity, and a lack of fuel is contributing to the water crisis, as desalination plants and water pumps could no longer operate.

Caliber.Az

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