1 of 2 relief trucks wait on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing, October 20, 2023. — Photo: Maxar Technologies/Handout via Portal Relief trucks wait on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing, October 20, 2023. 2023. — Photo: Maxar Technologies/ Handout via Portal
Satellite images released on Friday (20) show around 100 trucks carrying humanitarian aid gathered on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing into the Gaza Strip.
The UN assumes that the vehicles will be allowed to enter the territory on Saturday (21). US President Joe Biden said on Friday (20) that he expected the aid to arrive within 24 to 48 hours.
The Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing on October 15, 2023 (left) and October 20, 2023 (right). — Photo 1: Maxar Technologies/Handout via Portal — Photo 2: Maxar Technologies/Handout via Portal
Initially, the Israeli government blocked the import of water, food, electricity and fuel into Gaza. However, appeals from the international community and, above all, a meeting with Joe Biden, the President of the United States, in Tel Aviv convinced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to authorize the dispatch of humanitarian aid to the area.
A spokesman for the Egyptian presidency said on Wednesday (19) that it was coordinating a path to ensure the arrival of aid, together with the Americans and international humanitarian organizations under the supervision of the United Nations.
In a statement, Netanyahu’s office said it would “not hinder” deliveries of food, water and medicine as long as the supplies do not reach Hamas. No mention was made of the fuel essential to running the local hospital generators.
“Fuel is also needed for hospital generators, ambulances and desalination plants and we urge Israel to add fuel to the vital supplies allowed to enter the Gaza Strip,” WHO DirectorGeneral Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a news conference.
2 of 2 A second truck convoy near Sheikh Zuweid, Egypt, October 20, 2023. — Photo: Maxar Technologies/Handout via Portal A second truck convoy near Sheikh Zuweid, Egypt, October 20, 2023. — Photo: Maxar Technologies/Handout via Portal
After the terrorist group Hamas’s massive attack on Israel on the 7th, which killed hundreds of people, the country imposed a total blockade of Palestinian territory, cutting off access to water, food, fuel and electricity. Since then, the situation for the more than 2.3 million Palestinians living in Gaza has rapidly deteriorated.
“International humanitarian law is very clear: you cannot starve an entire population. “You cannot use aid, food or water as an instrument of war for political or military purposes,” Marwan Jilani, director general of the Red Crescent Organization for Palestine (as the Red Cross is known in Islamic countries), told Al Jazeera.
For the United Nations (UN), the scenario is catastrophic: there has been no electricity since 9/11, food insecurity is only increasing and the health system is on the verge of collapse.
UN agencies have already warned that there is less than a week’s worth of food left in the territory and that Gaza’s water desalination plant has been shut down, raising the risk of further deaths from water shortages, dehydration and illness from consuming contaminated water.
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid wait to enter the Gaza Strip from Egypt