Aid trucks cross into Gaza from Rafah after truce agreement

The Egyptian Red Crescent said that 153 trucks carrying aid were heading to Gaza via the Rafah border crossing following the announcement of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas on early Thursday.

Two sources from the Egyptian aid organisation confirmed on Thursday that "153 aid trucks entered through the Rafah crossing's bypass road, to be brought into Gaza.”

Among the trucks, 80 were from the United Nations, 21 from Qatar and 17 from the Egyptian Red Crescent, they added.

Israeli-enforced starvation

Israel completely halted the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza in March.

On August 22, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) formally declared famine in parts of Gaza, meaning three critical thresholds – extreme food deprivation, acute malnutrition and starvation-related deaths – had been breached.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, Palestinian deaths linked to hunger and famine have reached at least 460, including more than 150 children.

In September, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel concluded that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza.

“Israel must end its policy of starvation, lift the siege and facilitate and ensure the unimpeded access of humanitarian aid at scale and unhindered access of all United Nations staff, including UNRWA and OHCHR international staff, and all recognised international humanitarian agencies delivering and coordinating aid,” the commission said.

ICRC

Earlier, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that it successfully delivered medical supplies to the al-Saraya Field Hospital in Gaza City, which is run by the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS).

The delivery, carried out in partnership with PRCS and coordinated with authorities in Gaza and Israel, marks the eighth donation to medical facilities in recent weeks, the organisation said in a statement.

It added that medical supplies, including dressing kits, analgesics and anaesthetic medicines, antibiotics, and other critical goods, will be used to treat weapon-wounded patients and others at al-Shifa Medical Complex.

Good faith

The UN human rights chief also urged all states to work collectively to ensure that the Gaza ceasefire plan is implemented "in good faith".

"All action going forward must be guided by the immediate goals of ending the killing, starvation and destruction, and ensuring the safe and dignified return of hostages and arbitrarily detained Palestinians," Volker Turk said in a statement.

He warned that "the protection and humanitarian needs in Gaza are massive," stressing that access for aid, humanitarian workers, international journalists, and rights monitors is "crucial."

"This momentum can and should, with continuing negotiations and a sustained focus on peace, lead to a permanent cessation of hostilities," he said, adding that the situation in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, must also be clearly kept in mind.