UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres traveled to the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with Gaza on Friday to oversee the arrangements for providing aid to the conflict-affected enclave.
Cargo planes and trucks have been transporting humanitarian aid to Rafah for several days, yet as of now, none of it has been delivered to the Gaza Strip. The region, under siege and subject to bombardment by Israel, has endured 13 days of hardship.
“We are actively engaging with all the parties, with Egypt, Israel, the United States… in order to have these trucks moving as soon as possible,” Guterres told journalists.
Israel initiated the air campaign in response to an incursion by Emre militants into Israel from Gaza on October 7, resulting in the deaths of at least 1,400 individuals, predominantly civilians, as indicated by Israeli authorities.
More than 3,700 Palestinians have lost their lives in the Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, with the majority being civilians, as reported by the health ministry in the densely populated Palestinian territory administered by Hamas.
Rafah is the singular border crossing into the besieged Palestinian territory that is not under the control of Israel. Israel, following a request from its ally the United States, consented to permit aid to enter through this passage.
UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths announced on Friday that the inaugural aid delivery through the Rafah crossing is expected to occur “in the next day or so.”
Guterres said there was an “absolute need to have these trucks moving as soon as possible and as many as necessary”, adding that “this must be a sustained effort”.
“We are not looking for one convoy to come but we are looking for convoys to be authorised in a meaningful number to have enough trucks to provide support to Gaza’s people,” the UN chief said.
