Conflicts & War

3rd humanitarian aid convoy reaches war-torn Gaza from Egypt as crisis worsens

Cairo, Oct 23 (EFE).- The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza re-opened on Monday to deliver a third shipment of urgently needed humanitarian aid to the war-torn Palestinian enclave.

Twenty trucks entered Gaza from Egypt after a cargo inspection at the Israeli-controlled border crossing, an Egyptian security source told EFE.

The trucks carried essential supplies such as medicines, medical equipment, and baby formula food, the source said.

The convoy of aid trucks was redirected to the Al-Auja crossing, controlled by Israel, for inspection before being permitted to enter Gaza.

It marked the third aid convoy to enter Gaza since Saturday, when Israel allowed humanitarian aid to flow from Egypt into Gaza that has been under an Israeli blockade and relentless bombing after the attack by the Islamist Hamas group on Oct.7.

A total of 54 aid trucks have entered into Gaza since Saturday.

The UN confirmed that 14 trucks entered on Sunday, despite initial reports indicating that 17 were allowed to cross.

On Sunday night, US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the need for a continuous flow of assistance into Gaza in light of the ongoing conflict.

The aid delivery was hampered after the Israeli army “accidentally” fired at an Egyptian military post in the border area.

Egyptian military spokesperson Gharib Abdelhafez stated an Egyptian border surveillance tower was hit by fragments from an Israeli artillery fire, mildly injuring some border guards.

Following the incident, the UN confirmed 14 aid trucks entered into Gaza.

UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said the aid delivery provided a small glimmer of hope for thousands of people in desperate need of humanitarian aid.

Hundreds of trucks, loaded with tons of vital relief supplies for Gaza, had queued up for days, even as Israeli military strikes pounded the enclave to dismantle the Hamas network.

The crossing was first opened on Saturday aid after the strip had endured two weeks of devastating Israeli bombardments and had been subjected to a crippling blockade for the past 15 years.

Israel allowed the aid delivery after an intense international pressure.

However, the aid delivery did not include fuel, leaving Gaza hospitals without electricity and teetering on the brink as they struggled to operate their generators.

The strip, home to 2.3 million people, including 1.4 million internally displaced by Israel’s bombings in the north, is in dire need of aid, with thousands having lost their lives and many more wounded in the Israeli military campaign.

In the 17 days of the war, Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 5,000 Palestinians, including over 2,000 children, over 1,000 women, and some 187 elderly individuals, according to the health ministry.

The number of injured people exceeds 14,000, and an estimated 1,500 people remain missing under the rubble of razed buildings, with 800 of them being minors.

The Middle East conflict escalated after hundreds of Hamas militants launched a surprise multi-pronged attack on Israel on Oct.7, resulting in the deaths of 1,400 Israelis.

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