First aid rolls into devastated Gaza
RAFAH, Palestinian Territories, Oct 21, 2023 (AFP) - The first aid trucks arrived in the war-torn Gaza Strip from Egypt on Saturday, bringing 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. Israel has retaliated with a heavy bombing campaign on Gaza that has killed thousands and 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 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 allow aid to enter following a request from its ally the US.
As regional tensions have been brought to the boil, Egyptian President Sisi hosted a peace summit attended by regional leaders.
UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said the convoy “must not be the last” and that the delivery would start “a sustainable effort to provide essential supplies” to Gaza.
UN chief Antonio Guterres warned Friday that the aid was “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.
Israel’s military campaign against Hamas has levelled entire city blocks in Gaza, killing more
than 4,300 Palestinians. Israeli troops are massed on the Gaza border ahead of an expected ground invasion that officials have pledged will begin “soon”.
As international tensions soar, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah alSisi was hosting a peace summit in Cairo on Saturday attended by regional and some Western leaders. Egypt, historically a key mediator between Hamas and Israel, has urged “restraint” and called to restart long-frozen peace talks.
A full-blown Israeli land offensive carries many risks.
The release of the first two hostages -- US mother and daughter Judith and Natalie Raanan -offered a rare “sliver of hope”, said
Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Hamas said Egypt and Qatar had negotiated the release and it was “working with all mediators to implement the movement’s decision to close the civilian (hostage) file if appropriate security conditions allow”.
In Gaza, Israeli jets continued the relentless bombing campaign, with the military saying it hit more than 100 Hamas targets overnight.
Almost half of Gaza’s residents have been displaced, according to the UN. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said that 17 staff have been confirmed killed in the war, warning the actual numbers
“are likely to be higher”.
At least 30 percent of all housing in Gaza has been destroyed or damaged, the UN says, citing local authorities, and thousands have taken refuge in a tent city set up in southern Gaza’s Khan Yunis.
Israel’s operation will take not “a day, nor a week, nor a month,” the country’s defence minister Yoav Gallant warned Friday, and will result in “the end of Israel’s responsibilities in the Gaza Strip”.
An Israeli foreign ministry source, speaking to AFP, said Israel envisaged “handing over the keys” to neighbouring Egypt, which has strongly rejected attempts to place Gaza’s residents under its responsibility.
“I’m afraid that the current destruction is part of a clear plan for people to have no place left 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 expelled from or fled their homes when Israel was created.
The United States has moved two aircraft carriers into the eastern Mediterranean to deter Iran or Lebanon’s Hezbollah, both Hamas allies, amid fears of a wider conflagration.
Protests have erupted over the conflict across the region, and Israel on Saturday urged its citizens to immediately leave Egypt and Jordan.