A key border crossing between Gaza and Egypt opened today, allowing a trickle of desperately needed aid to flow into the besieged Palestinian territory.
More than 200 trucks carrying roughly 3,000 tonnes of aid have been waiting on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing amid intense diplomatic negotiations.
Just 20 trucks were allowed into Gaza today, an amount that Hamas and aid workers have warned is insufficient to address the unprecedented humanitarian crisis in the impoverished enclave.
Palestinian officials were disappointed that fuel supplies – needed to power hospitals – were not included, adding the aid was only three percent of what used to get into Gaza before the crisis.
“Excluding the fuel from the humanitarian aid means the lives of patients and injured will remain at risk,” the Gaza health ministry said.
The United Nations convey carried around 44,000 bottles of drinking water from the U.N. children’s agency – a day’s supply for 22,000 people, according to UNICEF.
Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians, half of whom have fled their homes, have been forced to ration food and drink dirty water after Israel recently escalated its 16-year siege of the strip, cutting off food, water, fuel and hospital supplies.
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It is responding to the deadly attack by Hamas on 7 October and has warned it will ease the complete siege only on the return of all hostages.
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It comes as the UK Foreign Secretary urged the Israeli military to act with “restraint” and “discipline”, amid a warning the government’s previously almost unqualified support for Israel could amount to it “aiding and abetting war crimes”.
Speaking at a summit on the war hosted by Egypt, James Cleverly said: “The UK is clear and has been consistently clear that Israel has the right to self-defence and the right to secure the release of those who were kidnapped on October 7.
“And we are also clear that we must work, and they must work, to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza, and that their actions are in accordance with international law.”
On the day 100,000 people joined a pro-Palestine protest in London, Mr Cleverly added: “Despite the incredibly difficult circumstances, I have called for discipline and professionalism and restraint from the Israeli military.”
Germany’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said Hamas does “not speak for the Palestinian people” and that the fight against it must be “carried out with the greatest possible humanitarian consideration for the innocent men, women and children in Gaza”.
The French Foreign Ministry commended the opening of the Rafah border crossing and called for a “humanitarian truce” – as minister Catherine Colonna told the summit a corridor to deliver aid to civilians could lead to a ceasefire.
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Hamas said a relief aid convoy of at least 20 trucks expected to enter would be carrying medicine, medical equipment and a limited amount of food supplies, such as canned goods.
A spokesperson for the organisation warned the truckloads of aid “will not change the catastrophic medical conditions in Gaza” and called for a secure corridor operating around the clock.
The World Health Organisation said the aid would also include trauma medicines and supplies for 1,200 people, together with 235 portable trauma bags for on-the-spot stabilisation of injured people.
The Israeli military said the supplies would not include fuel – and would only go to southern areas of Gaza, where civilians have been urged to flee from the north.
‘Chaos and disorder’ expected on both sides of border crossing
The border – Gaza’s only gateway to the rest of the world that is not directly controlled by Israel – had been closed since the deadly Hamas attack on 7 October.
The US Embassy in Israel said it was unsure how long the crossing will remain open to allow foreign nationals to leave.
It warned US citizens attempting to enter Egypt should expect a “potentially chaotic and disorderly environment on both sides of the crossing”.
Africa correspondent
There is a sense of a monumental breakthrough after days of protests, campaigns and diplomacy as the first aid trucks begin to make their way through the Rafah border crossing and into Gaza from Egypt.
But with only 20 aid trucks expected to enter today, the relief will be short-lived.
This amount of supplies will barely scratch the surface of Gaza’s existing humanitarian crisis – one that is escalating under the onslaught of Israeli airstrikes.
The trucks are mostly carrying medical supplies which are desperately needed by doctors and aid workers struggling to treat an ever-increasing number of casualties.
Surgeons in Al-Shifa hospital have been operating on patients without anaesthesia.
It is unclear whether the trucks will drive all the way into Gaza or offload the supplies onto local trucks on the other side.
There are concerns for the safety of volunteers from Israeli airstrikes.
An Israeli airstrike hit the border crossing on Tuesday as calls mounted for aid to enter – the fourth to hit the border crossing since the war started.
‘Continual flow of aid’ needed to deal with ‘catastrophic’ situation
UN officials say the trickle of aid coming through is not enough – with at least 100 trucks a day needed in Gaza.
The head of the UN’s World Food Program, Cindy McCain, called the situation “catastrophic”.
“We need many, many, many more trucks and a continual flow of aid,” she said.
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At least 345 people in Gaza have been killed in the last 24 hours, according to Hamas officials, with seven hospitals out of service or running low on fuel after being hit by airstrikes.
At least 30% of all homes have been destroyed or heavily damaged, with entire neighbourhoods reduced to “inaccessible mounds of rubble”.
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The Rafah crossing was opened hours after two US citizens held captive were released, with footage showing mother and daughter Judith and Natalie Raanan walking to freedom.
Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu said: “Two of our abductees are at home. We are not giving up on the effort to return all abducted and missing people.”
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Hamas said in a statement that it was working with mediators “to close the case” of hostages if security circumstances permit – adding that it is committed to mediation efforts by Egypt, Qatar and other nations.
