For the first time since the fighting, 20 assistance trucks enter Gaza via the Rafah gate
After a two-week embargo, up to 20 trucks carrying humanitarian goods entered Gaza on Saturday via the only border crossing between the embattled coastal enclave and Egypt for the first time since the raging Israel-Hamas war broke out on October 7.
The National Alliance for Civil Development Work and the Egyptian Red Crescent, two Egyptian agencies, provided medical supplies to the trucks, which were then filled with them. According to Life Makers Foundation public relations manager Aya Ahmed, Xinhua news agency.
20 trucks bringing assistance will be permitted to enter Gaza via the Rafah gate thanks to Israel’s agreement, but fuel imports are not permitted.
The US embassy in Israel said earlier in the day that it had learned that the Rafah border will open on Saturday at 10 a.m. (local time).
We do not know how long the border will be open for foreigners to leave Gaza if it is opened. If the border opens, we predict that many people would try to cross,” the mission was reported by CNN as saying.
Expect a possibly disruptive and unruly situation on both sides of the bridge if you’re a US citizen trying to enter Egypt.
According to the Embassy, the situation is still “dynamic and fluid” and the security situation is “unpredictable,” therefore individuals should consider their own safety and security before moving near the border or attempting to cross.
While Gaza descended into a deteriorating humanitarian crisis during the fierce Israel-Hamas war, humanitarian supplies has been stalled in Egypt for days.
The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Saturday that food, water, fuel, and medical supplies are quickly running out in Gaza, and that power outages and a prohibition on fuel imports have had “devastating consequences” on the healthcare system and access to clean water.
It also said that more than 1.4 million Palestinians, or more than 60% of Gaza’s 2 million residents, had been displaced.
