According to AFP correspondents on both sides, the first of 20 trucks carrying humanitarian aid arrived in the beleaguered and war-torn Gaza Strip on Saturday through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.
UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said he was “confident that this delivery will be the start of a sustainable effort to provide essential supplies… to the people of Gaza” and warned that “this first convoy must not be the last”.
Following the trucks from the Egyptian Red Crescent, which is in charge of distributing aid from different UN agencies, the border crossing was once more blocked.
It was the first supply of that kind since Israel and Hamas, the Islamist terrorist group that controls the 2.4 million-person Palestinian enclave, went to war more than two weeks ago.
The sole entry point into Gaza that is not under Israeli control is Rafah. Israel granted permission for Egypt to provide aid to Gaza at the request of the United States, its main ally.
Israel has been bombing Gaza since Hamas’ bloody surprise attack of October 7 and has also declared a total siege, cutting off most water as well as food, electricity, fuel and other supplies.
Hamas militants stormed into Israel from Gaza and killed at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians who were shot, mutilated or burnt to death on the first day of the raid, according to Israeli officials.
Since then, more than 4,100 Palestinians, mainly civilians, have been killed in relentless Israeli bombardments, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Cargo planes and trucks have been bringing humanitarian aid to the Egyptian side of Rafah for days, but so far none had been delivered to Gaza.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday visited the Egyptian side of the crossing to oversee preparations for the aid delivery.
“These trucks are not just trucks, they are a lifeline,” he said. “They are the difference between life and death for so many people in Gaza.”
The UN chief said it must be “a sustained effort” with not just one convoy crossing but for many “to be authorised in a meaningful number to have enough trucks to provide support to Gaza’s people”.
“It is essential to have fuel on the other side… to be able to distribute humanitarian aid for the population in Gaza,” Guterres said, warning against the use of aid deliveries as “bargaining chips”.
Israel is concerned that any gasoline delivered to Gaza might be utilized by Hamas for the production of bombs and weapons.
In a show of unity, US President Joe Biden had lobbied for the trucks’ passage on Wednesday in Israel.
According to him, the first 20 trucks would be used to test a mechanism that will deliver aid on the Gaza side of the border while preventing Hamas from profiting.
Biden warned that, if Hamas “doesn’t let it get through or just confiscates it, then it’s going to end”.
