The United Nations announced on Saturday that a total of 248 trucks carrying humanitarian aid have arrived in the Gaza Strip since the ceasefire took effect the previous day, with 61 of them delivering medical equipment, food and water to the north of the enclave.
• Also read: 39 Palestinian prisoners were released back home
• Also read: Hamas’ military wing said it had handed over 13 Israeli hostages and 4 foreigners to the ICRC
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Eleven ambulances, three coaches and a flatbed truck were delivered to Al-Shifa hospital, the largest in the Gaza Strip, “to assist with evacuations,” the U.N. agency in charge of the emergency said in a statement. Humanitarian Coordination (OCHA).
AFP
The facility is the main command center for Hamas operations in the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli authorities, something the Palestinian Islamist movement denies.
“The longer the ceasefire lasts, the more humanitarian organizations will be able to provide assistance inside and outside the Gaza Strip,” OCHA added, thanking the Palestinian Red Crescent and the Egyptian Red Crescent.
The UN agency welcomed “the release of additional hostages today” and renewed its call for the “immediate and unconditional release of all hostages” in the hope that “the release of the other detained Palestinians will provide relief to their families and loved ones.”
Israel’s prison authority announced the release of 39 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday night, after Gaza’s ruling Islamist movement released 20 hostages under an agreement that came into force on Friday.
The deal is expected to last four days and allow for the release of 50 Hamas hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners. This extendable pause also includes the entry of humanitarian aid and fuel into the Gaza Strip.
For weeks, the United Nations, international NGOs and many foreign capitals have been calling for a pause in fighting or a ceasefire, particularly to provide emergency aid to the population of the Gaza Strip, who are living in catastrophic humanitarian conditions.
According to Israeli authorities, 1,200 people, the vast majority civilians, were killed and 240 people were taken hostage in the bloody attack on Israeli soil by the Islamist movement ruling Gaza on October 7.
In retaliation, Israel vowed to “destroy” Hamas and bombed Gaza relentlessly until a ceasefire. And on October 27, the Israeli army launched a ground operation there.
According to the Hamas government, the offensive in the Gaza Strip claimed almost 15,000 lives, including 6,150 children and teenagers under the age of 18.