The border crossing between Egypt and Gaza opened Saturday (Oct. 21) to let a trickle of desperately needed aid into the besieged Palestinian territory for the first time since Israel sealed it off following HamasB次元官网网址� bloody rampage two weeks ago.
Just 20 trucks were allowed in, an amount that aid workers said was insufficient to address the unprecedented humanitarian crisis in Gaza. More than 200 trucks carrying roughly 3,000 tons of aid have been positioned near the crossing for days.
GazaB次元官网网址檚 2.3 million Palestinians, half of whom have fled their homes, are ationing food and drinking dirty water. Hospitals say they are 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 that have destroyed entire neighborhoods, 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 U.S. President Joe Biden and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Israel had insisted that nothing would enter Gaza until Hamas released all of the captives from its Oct. 7 attack on towns in southern Israel.
Late Friday, Hamas released an American woman and her teenage daughter, the first captives to be freed. It was not immediately clear if there was a connection between the release and the aid deliveries. Israel says Hamas is still holding at least 210 captives.
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On Saturday morning, an Associated Press reporter on the Palestinian side of Rafah saw the 20 trucks heading north to Deir al-Balah, a quiet farming town where many evacuees from the north have sought shelter. Hundreds of foreign passport holders at Rafah hoping to escape the conflict were not allowed to leave.
The trucks were carrying 44,000 bottles of drinking water from the U.N.B次元官网网址檚 childrenB次元官网网址檚 agency B次元官网网址� enough for 22,000 people for a single day, it said. B次元官网网址淭his first, limited water will save lives, but the needs are immediate and immense,B次元官网网址� said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.
The World Health Organization said four of the 20 trucks that crossed through Rafah were carrying medical supplies, including 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.
B次元官网网址淭he situation is catastrophic in Gaza,B次元官网网址� the head of the U.N.B次元官网网址檚 World Food Program, Cindy McCain, told The Associated Press. B次元官网网址淲e need many, many, many more trucks and a continual flow of aid,B次元官网网址� she said, adding that some 400 trucks were entering Gaza daily before the war.
The Hamas-run government in Gaza also said the limited convoy B次元官网网址渨ill not be able to change the humanitarian catastrophe,B次元官网网址� calling for a secure corridor operating around the clock.
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesman, said B次元官网网址渢he humanitarian situation in Gaza is under control.B次元官网网址� He said 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.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken appealed to all sides to keep the crossing open for crucial aid shipments and warned Hamas to not take the aid.
B次元官网网址淧alestinian civilians are not responsible for HamasB次元官网网址檚 horrific terrorism, and they should not be made to suffer for its depraved acts,B次元官网网址� he said in a statement. B次元官网网址淎s President Biden stated, if Hamas steals or diverts this assistance it will have demonstrated once again that it has no regard for the welfare of the Palestinian people.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� It will also make it hard to keep the aid flowing, he said.
Guterres, meanwhile, gave voice to growing international concern over civilians in Gaza, telling a summit in Cairo that HamasB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址渞eprehensible assaultB次元官网网址� on Israel two weeks ago B次元官网网址渃an never justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.B次元官网网址�
Two Egyptian officials and a European diplomat said extensive negotiations with Israel and the U.N. to allow fuel deliveries for hospitals had so far yielded little progress. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release information on the sensitive deliberations.
One Egyptian official said they were discussing the release of dual-national hostages in return for the fuel, but that Israel was insisting on the release of all hostages.
Hamas released Judith Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter, Natalie, on Friday for what it said were humanitarian reasons in an agreement with Qatar, a Persian Gulf nation that has often served as a Mideast mediator. A representative for the pair said they were staying with relatives in central Israel.
The two had been on a trip from their home in suburban Chicago to Israel to celebrate Jewish holidays, the family said. They were in the kibbutz of Nahal Oz, near Gaza, when Hamas and other militants stormed into southern Israeli towns, killing hundreds and abducting at least 210 others.
Hamas said it was working with Egypt, Qatar and other mediators B次元官网网址渢o close the caseB次元官网网址� of hostages if security circumstances permit.
There are growing expectations of a ground offensive that Israel says would be aimed at rooting out Hamas, an Islamic militant group that has ruled Gaza for 16 years. Israel said Friday it does not plan to take long-term control over the small but densely populated Palestinian territory.
Israel has also traded fire along its northern border with LebanonB次元官网网址檚 Hezbollah militant group, raising concerns about a second front opening up. The Israeli military said Saturday it struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in response to recent rocket launches and attacks with anti-tank missiles.
B次元官网网址淗ezbollah has decided to participate in the fighting, and we are exacting a heavy price for this,B次元官网网址� Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said during a visit to the border.
Israel issued a travel warning on Saturday, ordering its citizens to leave Egypt and Jordan B次元官网网址� which made peace with it decades ago B次元官网网址� and to avoid travel to a number of Arab and Muslim countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Bahrain, which forged diplomatic ties with Israel in 2020. Protests against IsraelB次元官网网址檚 actions in Gaza have erupted across the region.
An Israeli ground assault would likely lead to a dramatic escalation in casualties on both sides in urban fighting. More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed in the war B次元官网网址� mostly civilians slain during the Hamas incursion.
More than 4,300 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry. That includes the disputed toll from a hospital explosion. The ministry says another 1,400 are believed to have been buried under rubble.
The Hamas-run Housing Ministry said at least 30% of all homes in Gaza have been destroyed or heavily damaged in the war.
Hosting a summit Saturday, Egypt President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi called for ensuring aid to Gaza, negotiating a cease-fire and resuming Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, which last broke down more than a decade ago. He also said the conflict would never be resolved B次元官网网址渁t the expense of Egypt,B次元官网网址� referring to ears Israel may try to push GazaB次元官网网址檚 population into the Sinai Peninsula.
King Abdullah II of Jordan told the summit that IsraelB次元官网网址檚 air campaign and siege of Gaza were B次元官网网址渁 war crimeB次元官网网址� and slammed the international communityB次元官网网址檚 response.
B次元官网网址淎nywhere else, attacking civilian infrastructure and deliberately starving an entire population of food, water, electricity, and basic necessities would be condemned,B次元官网网址� he said. Apparently, he added, B次元官网网址渉uman rights have boundaries. They stop at borders, they stop at races, they stop at religions.B次元官网网址�
Over a million people have been displaced in Gaza. Many heeded IsraelB次元官网网址檚 orders to evacuate from north to south within the sealed-off coastal enclave. But Israel has continued to bomb areas in southern Gaza where Palestinians had been told to seek safety, and some appear to be going back to the north because of bombings and difficult living conditions in the south.
Magdy reported from Cairo and Krauss from Jerusalem. Associated Press journalists Isabel DeBre in Jerusalem and Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.
Najib Jobain, Samy Magdy And Joseph Krauss, The Associated Press
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