Egypt: The Rafah border crossing, connecting Egypt and Gaza, has been opened to allow a limited amount of essential aid to reach Palestinians facing shortages of food, medicine, and water in the region, which is under an Israeli blockade.
A convoy consisting of 20 aid trucks crossed into the Gaza Strip from Egypt on October 20, 2023. The trucks were carrying essential medicine and food supplies, as reported by the Palestinian group Hamas.
For several days, over 200 trucks, loaded with approximately 3,000 tons of aid, had been waiting near the crossing, prepared to enter Gaza.
“The relief aid convoy that is supposed to enter today includes 20 trucks that carry medicine, medical supplies, and a limited amount of food supplies,” Hamas’s media office said earlier.
The UN’s emergency relief coordinator, Mr. Martin Griffiths, expressed his approval of the aid delivery. Mr. Griffiths noted that it came after extensive negotiations with all parties involved, ensuring a swift and well-conditioned resumption of aid operations in Gaza.
“I am confident that this delivery will be the start of a sustainable effort to provide essential supplies – including food, water, medicine, and fuel – to the people of Gaza, in a safe, dependable, unconditional, and unimpeded manner,” Mr. Griffiths added.
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, that “WFP welcomes today’s opening of the Rafah Crossing which enabled a first convoy of trucks to bring in urgently needed food, water, and other essential supplies into Gaza.”