The Rafah border crossing was closed again after the trucks passed.
Rafah, Palestinian Territories:
The first aid vehicles arrived in the war-torn Gaza Strip from Egypt on Saturday, AFP journalists said, bringing much-needed humanitarian aid to the Hamas-controlled Palestinian enclave under Israeli siege.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after the group carried out the deadliest attack in the country’s history on October 7.
It launched a military campaign and cut off food, water, electricity and fuel supplies to the densely populated and long-blocked area of 2.4 million people, raising fears of a humanitarian catastrophe.
AFP journalists saw 20 trucks from the Egyptian Red Crescent, which is responsible for delivering aid from several UN agencies, pass through the Rafah border crossing from Egypt, and the first trucks enter Gaza on the other side.
The border crossing – the only one not controlled by Israel – was closed again after the trucks passed through.
The trucks had been waiting on the Egyptian side for days after Israel agreed to let in aid following a request from its key ally, the United States.
UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said the convoy “must not be the last” and that its delivery would be the start of “a sustained effort to deliver essential supplies” to Gaza.
UN chief Antonio Guterres warned on Friday that the aid was “the difference between life and death” for many Gazans.
But Michael Ryan, the World Health Organization’s emergencies director, said US President Joe Biden’s deal for an initial delivery of 20 trucks was “a drop in the ocean” and that 2,000 trucks were needed.
– ‘Splinter of Hope’ –
Israeli officials say the Hamas group has killed at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians who were shot, maimed or burned to death on the first day of their attack on October 7.
Israel says about 1,500 Hamas fighters were killed in fighting before the army regained control of the attacked area.
According to the Hamas-led Health Ministry, Israel’s military campaign has since leveled entire city blocks in Gaza, killing 4,137 Palestinians, mostly civilians.
Hamas also kidnapped more than 200 people as it entered Israel from the Gaza Strip, while the fate of the hostages was shrouded in uncertainty.
The release of the first two hostages – American mother and daughter Judith and Natalie Raanan – thus offered a rare “blade of hope”, said Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Biden said he was “overjoyed” by the release, which came days after he visited Israel to express solidarity with the wounded country and urge humanitarian aid to Gaza.
He thanked Qatar, where Hamas’s political office is based, for helping secure the release and said he was working “around the clock” to secure the return of other Americans who were detained.
Guterres also expressed his gratitude to Qatar and reiterated his call “for an immediate and unconditional release of all hostages,” his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Saturday.
– ‘The most terrible trials’ –
Natalie Raanan’s half-brother Ben told the BBC he felt an “overwhelming sense of joy” at the release after “the most terrible ordeal”.
Hamas said Egypt and Qatar had negotiated the release and that it was “working with all mediators to implement the movement’s decision to close the civilian file (hostages) if appropriate security conditions allow.”
The Israeli army said on Friday that “the majority” of those abducted were still alive, as traumatized families demanded more action.
“Absolutely nothing has been done,” Assaf Shem Tov, whose cousin was kidnapped from a music festival where hundreds were killed by Hamas, said on Friday.
“We ask humanity to intervene and bring back all those young boys, young girls, mothers and babies.”
In Gaza, Israeli planes continued the brutal bombing campaign, with the army saying it hit more than 100 Hamas targets in a single night.
Israeli troops have gathered at the Gaza border ahead of an expected ground invasion that officials have promised will begin “soon.”
But a large-scale land offensive entails many risks, including for the hostages.
With regional tensions brought to a boil, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will host a peace summit on Saturday attended by regional and some Western leaders.
– Crucial help –
According to the United Nations, almost half of Gaza’s residents have been displaced.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on Saturday that “so far it has been confirmed that 17 of our colleagues have died in this brutal war. Very sadly, the actual numbers are likely higher.”
At least 30 percent of all homes in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged, the UN said, citing local authorities, and thousands have taken refuge in a tent city in southern Gaza’s Khan Yunis.
Fadwa al-Najjar said she and her seven children walked for 10 hours to reach the camp, breaking into a run at some points as airstrikes descended around them.
“We saw bodies and limbs being torn off and we just started praying, thinking we were going to die,” she told AFP.
“I would have preferred not to leave, I would have stayed at home and died there,” her daughter Malak added.
The Israeli operation will not last “a day, nor a week, nor a month,” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned on Friday, and will result in “the end of Israel’s responsibilities in the Gaza Strip.”
An Israeli Foreign Ministry source, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, said Israel planned to “hand over the keys” to neighboring Egypt, which has strongly rejected attempts to place Gaza residents under its responsibility .
– Regional tensions flare –
“I fear that the current destruction is part of a clear plan to leave people without a place to live,” said Omar Ashour, a retired general in Gaza.
“This will cause a second Nakba,” he added, referring to the 760,000 Palestinians who were driven from or fled their homes when Israel was founded.
Israel is strongly supported by international allies and Biden requested $14 billion in emergency military aid to Israel on Friday.
He argued the money would safeguard US interests in the region, where there are fears of a wider conflagration.
The United States moved two aircraft carriers to the eastern Mediterranean to deter Iran or Lebanese Hezbollah, both allies of Hamas, and France said it had directly warned Hezbollah about involvement.
However, cross-border fire continued overnight, killing one Israeli soldier, Israeli radio said, and the army announced it had hit Hezbollah targets after rocket and anti-tank rocket fire.
Israel ordered the evacuation of 25,000 residents of the northern city of Kiryat Shmona on Friday.
Violence has also flared in the West Bank, where 84 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Protests over the war have erupted across the region and Israel on Saturday called on its citizens to leave Egypt and Jordan immediately.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
