Africa-Press – Seychelles. The first aid trucks arrived in war-torn Gaza from Egypt on Saturday, bringing urgent humanitarian relief to the Hamas-controlled Palestinian enclave suffering what the UN chief labelled a “godawful nightmare”.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after the Islamist militant group carried out the deadliest attack in the country’s history on October 7.
Hamas militants killed at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians who were shot, mutilated or burnt to death, and took more than 200 hostages, according to Israeli officials.
Israel has retaliated with a relentless bombing campaign on Gaza that has killed more than 4,300 Palestinians, mainly civilians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
An Israeli siege has cut food, water, electricity and fuel supplies to the densely populated and long-blockaded territory of 2.4 million people, sparking fears of a humanitarian catastrophe.
AFP journalists on Saturday saw 20 trucks from the Egyptian Red Crescent, which is responsible for delivering aid from various UN agencies, pass through the Rafah border crossing from Egypt into Gaza.
The crossing — the only one into Gaza not controlled by Israel — closed again after the trucks passed.
The lorries had been waiting for days on the Egyptian side after Israel agreed to a request from its main ally the United States to allow aid to enter.
UN chief Antonio Guterres warned Friday that the relief supplies were “the difference between life and death” for many Gazans, more than one million of whom have been displaced.
“Much more” aid needs to be sent, he told a peace summit in Egypt on Saturday.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken welcomed the aid and urged “all parties” to keep the Rafah crossing open.
But a Hamas spokesman said “even dozens” of such convoys could not meet Gaza’s needs, especially as no fuel was being allowed in to help distribute the supplies to those in need.
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