The first trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip from Egypt on Saturday, October 21, on the fifteenth day of the war between Israel and Hamas, in power in the Palestinian territory, noted a correspondent from Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The first five trucks crossed the Rafah terminal on the Egyptian border, opened exceptionally for this humanitarian operation, and entered Palestinian territory, according to an AFP correspondent on site.
Egyptian state television showed several trucks passing through the huge gate of the Rafah border post. Aid delivery has begun, a security source and an Egyptian Red Crescent official confirmed to AFP. On the Palestinian side, thirty-six semi-trailers heading towards the Egyptian part of the terminal to load the first cargoes were seen by an AFP journalist.
“The first convoy must not be the last”
Some 175 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid have been massed for days in Rafah waiting for the crossing point to open. Dozens of dual nationals, including entire families, residing in the Gaza Strip are waiting on the Palestinian side in the hope of obtaining authorization to leave the Gaza Strip thanks to this opening of the crossing point, the first since the War began on October 7.
As the conflict enters its third week, this aid must make the difference “between life and death” for many Gazans who lack water, food, medicine and electricity, the Prime Minister said on Friday in Rafah. Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres.
“The first convoy must not be the last,” warned the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, on Saturday, present in Cairo for a “summit for peace”. “I am confident that this shipment will be the start of a lasting effort to provide essential goods – including food, water, medicine and fuel – to Gazans in a secure, unconditional and unhindered manner,” he said. he added, while Saturday’s shipments only contain, according to Egyptian media, food and medical aid and not fuel, vital for the Gaza Strip, whose only power plant is at stop.