The border crossing between Egypt and Gaza opened on Saturday to let a trickle of desperately needed aid into the besieged Palestinian territory for the first time since Israel sealed it off in the wake of Hamas' bloody rampage two weeks ago. Gaza's 2.3 million Palestinians, half of whom have fled their homes, are rationing food and drinking dirty water, per the AP. Hospitals say they're running low on medical supplies and fuel for emergency generators amid a territory-wide power blackout. Israel is still launching waves of airstrikes across Gaza as Palestinian militants fire rocket barrages into Israel. The opening came after more than a week of high-level diplomacy by various mediators, including visits to the region by US President Biden and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Israel had insisted that nothing would enter Gaza until some 200 people captured by Hamas were freed, and the Palestinian side of the crossing had been shut down by Israeli airstrikes. Egypt's state-owned Al Qahera News, which is close to security agencies, said just 20 trucks had crossed into Gaza on Saturday, out of more than 200 trucks carrying roughly 3,000 tons of aid that have been positioned near the crossing for days. Hundreds of foreign passport-holders also waited to cross from Gaza to Egypt to escape the conflict. The UN said lifesaving supplies would be delivered to the Palestine Red Crescent medical service. But Cindy McCain, the head of the UN's World Food Program, said the aid was insufficient. "The situation is catastrophic in Gaza," she said. "We need many, many, many more trucks and a continual flow of aid."
The Hamas-run government in Gaza also said the limited convoy "will not be able to change the humanitarian catastrophe," calling for a secure corridor operating around the clock. Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesman, said, "The humanitarian situation in Gaza is under control." He noted that the aid would be delivered only to southern Gaza, where the army has ordered people to relocate, adding that no fuel would enter the territory. The opening came hours after Hamas released an American woman and her teenage daughter, the first captives to be freed after the militant group's Oct. 7 incursion into Israel. It wasn't immediately clear if there was any connection between the two.
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The World Health Organization said four of the 20 trucks that crossed through Rafah on Saturday were carrying medical supplies, including medicines for the treatment of chronic diseases for 1,500 people, essential supplies for 300,000 people for three months, trauma medicine and supplies for 1,200 people, and 235 portable trauma bags for first responders. The World Food Program said it has another 930 metric tons of emergency food waiting to be brought in through Rafah. It said it needs to replenish its "rapidly diminishing supplies" as it expands food assistance from 520,000 people to 1.1 million in the next two months. Much more here.
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