The United Nations announced on Friday that the delivery of first aid to the blockaded Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt is expected to be done within the “next day or so.”
‘We are in deep and advanced negotiations with all relevant sides to ensure that an aid operation in Gaza starts as quickly as possible… a first delivery is due to start in the next day or so,’ the UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said, quoted by his spokesman Jens Laerke in Geneva.
Laerke told reporters: ‘I do not have an exact time for when these movements will take place, of course, with the hope that they can begin as soon as possible, in a way that is safe, secure and hopefully sustained.’
‘We need to have the mechanism in place whereby this can be driven into southern Gaza. That does not take away from our call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.’
With Palestinians in critical need of food and water after enduring relentless Israeli airstrikes, essential international aid gathered in Egypt near Gaza on Friday, in the wake of the bloodiest assault ever experienced by the region.
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The UN has indicated that the number of displaced individuals in Gaza has surpassed one million, constituting over half of the region’s 2.4 million populace, and that the humanitarian crisis are deteriorating rapidly.
Al Qahera News, a state-linked broadcaster in Egypt, had initially announced the forthcoming opening of the Rafah crossing on Friday, the exclusive entry point into Gaza. However, Cairo subsequently mentioned the need for additional time to facilitate road repairs.
Israel has made a commitment to eliminate Hamas following the militant group’s significant attack from the Gaza Strip on October 7, which reportedly led to the deaths of over 1,400 people, primarily civilians, according to Israeli officials.
Israeli airstrikes have decimated entire city blocks in Gaza, in preparation for an upcoming ground invasion, as stated by Israeli authorities. The most recent report from the Hamas-run health ministry indicates that over 3,785 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have lost their lives in the bombings.