International humanitarian aid should be able to enter the Gaza Strip on Saturday October 21, “or in those waters”the UN emergency manager said on Friday. “We are in extensive and advanced negotiations with all parties concerned to ensure that an aid operation in Gaza begins as quickly as possible”, declared Martin Griffiths, quoted by a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) in Geneva. Follow our live stream.
The explosion in a Gaza hospital reportedly left “100 to 300” dead. The results of the strike on the al-Ahli hospital in Gaza on Tuesday are “probably at the low end of a range between 100 and 300” dead, according to an American intelligence note of which AFP was able to consult extracts. This summary sent to Congress affirms, as Joe Biden declared on Wednesday, that Israel “probably did not bomb the hospital in the Gaza Strip”.
Humanitarian aid expected Friday. Egypt carried out work on Thursday on the roads damaged by Israeli bombings at the Rafah crossing point. The first humanitarian aid convoys for the Gaza Strip, blocked for several days at the border, could therefore arrive there as early as Friday. “We need unhindered access and safe delivery of our life-saving aid. Time is running out.”called Unicef on X, Friday morning.
Israel evacuates a town on the border with Lebanon. The Israeli army “announced the implementation of a plan to evacuate residents” of Kiryat Shmona, a town of around 25,000 inhabitants targeted by rockets fired from Lebanon, according to a press release. Since October 7, the IDF has been on alert on its northern border to ward off a possible offensive by pro-Iranian Lebanese Hezbollah.