Trucks carrying humanitarian aid crossed the Rafah terminal in Egypt on their way to the Palestinian enclave of Gaza today, according to an Egyptian Red Crescent official.
Egyptian state television showed several trucks driving through the huge gates of the border post on the 15th day of the war between Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas, which is in power in Gaza, after tons of aid had piled up for days awaiting shipment . Gaza’s 2.4 million residents, half of whom are children, are without water, electricity or fuel.
The border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip reopened today to keep aid flowing and Palestinians out of the territory.
More than 200 trucks, loaded with about 3,000 tons of aid, have been standing near the post for several days, waiting for permission to enter.
The US embassy in Egypt warned of the “potentially chaotic environment” that opening the border could create, with dual nationals fleeing Gaza and rushing into Egypt and providing first aid.
As the conflict enters its third week, aid is urgently needed for the residents of Gaza, an area under bombardment by Israel, which has vowed to “destroy” Hamas.
Today, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that the number of people who have fled their homes in Gaza as a result of Israeli attacks now stands at 1.4 million, almost two-thirds of the 2.2 million people living in the territory live in Gaza.
In its daily report on the situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories since the start of the conflict on October 7, the coordination office said that approximately 544,000 of these displaced persons are staying in shelters run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. in the Near East (UNRWA).
The report said more than 100,000 people are in churches, hospitals and other public buildings in Gaza City, which puts the death toll in the Gaza Strip since the start of hostilities at 4,137, according to Gaza Health Ministry data.
The UN warns of overcrowding in many refugee shelters, highlighting that in some of them only one liter of water per person can be provided for drinking, hygiene and other uses (the minimum should be 15 liters according to international standards).
“Overcrowding and the lack of basic needs have caused tensions among the displaced,” says the UN daily report, which acknowledges that it has no information on the situation of many refugees in northern Gaza, the area most affected by Israeli attacks .
In addition to the 4,137 deaths in Gaza (1,661 children and 908 women, according to Palestinian authorities), the attacks caused 13,162 injuries, according to the report, which also counts 82 deaths (25 of them children) and 1,425 injuries in the West Bank. .
The death toll in Israel remains at 1,400, with 4,629 injured, almost all in the October 7 terrorist attacks, said the UN daily report, which also noted one Israeli death and nine injuries in the West Bank.
The UN emphasizes that at least a thousand people are missing in the Gaza Strip, possibly under the rubble of buildings destroyed in the attacks.
Some of them may still be alive, the report says, noting that Palestinian Civil Defense rescue teams are trying to search for the trapped people “despite continued airstrikes, shortages of fuel for their vehicles and equipment, and limited or non-existent mobile phone connections . “.
The report recalls, based on data from the World Health Organization (WHO), that Gaza suffered 62 attacks on health facilities, including 19 hospitals and 23 ambulances, killing at least 16 health workers, while 193 schools and other educational buildings were hit.
The UN World Food Program (WFP) highlights that three out of five bakeries it manages to produce one of the most important staple foods for the population have already stopped operations due to a lack of ingredients and fuel.
Source: DN
