Thirty-three trucks of humanitarian aid entered Gaza on Sunday via the Rafah crossing point on the border with Egypt, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.
This is the largest convoy to enter the besieged Palestinian territory since the limited resumption of the delivery of humanitarian aid on October 21, the UN office said.
“While this increase is welcome, a much larger volume of aid is needed on a regular basis to avoid a further deterioration of the dire humanitarian situation, including civil unrest,” OCHA said in its daily report on the war between Israel and Hamas.
“Emergency entry of fuel to operate medical equipment and water and sanitation facilities is particularly necessary,” the report continues.
Israel blocked all fuel deliveries, saying Hamas would take advantage of them to make weapons and explosives.
Humanitarian aid convoys to Gaza, subject to an Israeli blockade since 2007 and the coming to power of Hamas, were interrupted after the bloody attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement against Israel on October 7, which killed more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians.
In retaliation, the Israeli army launched a military offensive against the Palestinian territory, which killed more than 8,000 people, mostly civilians, according to Hamas.
A total of 117 humanitarian aid trucks have been able to enter Gaza since October 21, OCHA said, the majority of them (70) containing medical equipment. 60 contained food and nutritional products, and 13 trucks contained water and sanitation equipment.
Before the siege, some 500 trucks carrying aid and other goods entered the Gaza Strip every day.
Thousands of buildings were razed in this overpopulated territory of 2.4 million inhabitants, more than half of whom were displaced.
Before arriving in Rafah, trucks are inspected at the Nitzana crossing between Israel and Egypt, about 40 km from Rafah, OCHA said.
According to a senior US government official who requested anonymity on Sunday, “Israel is committed to adjusting the control process to be able to process 100 trucks per day.”