The few trucks of humanitarian aid that are slow to reach Gaza will be woefully inadequate to meet the more urgent needs than ever of the population, most of whom no longer have access to even a simple bottle of water.
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At the Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt, which is the only non-Israeli-controlled opening to the Gaza Strip, trucks loaded with food, water and medicine, among other things, are piled up waiting to enter the narrow Palestinian territory.
Under an agreement reached earlier this week between the United States and Egypt, only 20 trucks can enter for humanitarian aid. A paltry number, according to the United Nations (UN), which estimates that “100 trucks a day” are needed to feed Gaza’s population. Even before the start of the war, 60% of the latter were dependent on humanitarian aid.
We’ll grab what’s left
“What is needed is not a small operation but a sustained effort,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who called for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire.”
As Israel imposes a total siege on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, “critical” shortages are causing increasing tensions among the displaced, who number more than a million people, according to the Coordination Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
“Bottled water is largely unavailable and its price makes it unaffordable for most families,” OCHA said.
The father of a child killed in Israeli airstrikes carries him to his final resting place at a funeral in Khan Yunis on Thursday. Photo AFP
The lack of supplies to treat the injured is so severe that a doctor there told the BBC he was treating patients with vinegar he found in a supermarket.
While Egyptian media announced on Thursday that humanitarian aid could finally arrive on Friday, a World Health Organization (WHO) official said he was “unsure” whether this would be possible.
Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant met his troops gathered near the Gaza border and told them to be “ready,” according to the Associated Press.
The ground invasion appears increasingly imminent as the New York Times observes that tens of thousands of troops are waiting near the border, especially in the north.
– With AFP
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