The first humanitarian aid convoy to be sent to the besieged Gaza Strip since war broke out arrived through the Rafah border crossing on Saturday, after wrangling over conditions for delivering relief left it stranded in Egypt, Reuters reports.
The United Nations said the 20-truck convoy included life-saving supplies that would be received by the Palestinian Red Crescent, but the aid was a fraction of the quantity needed and it was unclear how much aid will be allowed to pass in coming days.
Rafah is the main route in and out of the Gaza Strip that is not controlled by Israel, and the focus of efforts to deliver relief to Gaza's 2.3 million residents.
U.N. officials say at least 100 trucks a day are required in Gaza to cover urgent needs, and that any delivery of aid should be sustained and at scale. Before the outbreak of conflict, an average of about 450 aid trucks were arriving there daily.
"The humanitarian situation in Gaza – already precarious – has reached catastrophic levels," U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said in a statement.
"I am confident that this delivery will be the start of a sustainable effort to provide essential supplies – including food, water, medicine and fuel," he said.
Israel imposed a total blockade and launched air strikes on Gaza in response to a deadly attack on Israeli soil by Hamas on Oct. 7. The Rafah crossing has been out of operation since shortly afterwards, and bombardments on the Gaza side damaged roads and buildings that needed repairs.
