(Rafah) A first convoy of humanitarian aid, coming from Egypt, entered Gaza on Saturday, desperately awaited by its inhabitants who lack everything, with the UN calling for a “humanitarian ceasefire” to put an end to the ” nightmare” in the Palestinian territory shelled and besieged by Israel after the bloody Hamas attack on its soil on October 7.
WHAT THERE IS TO KNOW
- A first aid convoy from Egypt entered Gaza on Saturday;
- Israel has still not launched its attack inside the Gaza Strip despite an announcement by the authorities of an imminent offensive;
- The Jewish state is strengthening its positions on the border with Lebanon following exchanges of fire with Hezbollah and must watch its back with Syria and Yemen;
- UN boss Antonio Guterres called for a “humanitarian ceasefire” at the opening of a “Peace Summit” in Cairo;
- The war left nearly 5,800 dead on both sides, according to official reports;
- Around 200 people are believed to be detained by Hamas, “including foreigners”;
- Hamas released two hostages of American origin, a mother and her daughter, on Friday for humanitarian reasons.
The aid left Egypt aboard 20 trucks, according to the UN, via the Rafah crossing, the only gateway to Gaza not in Israeli hands, after an agreement announced Wednesday by US President Joe Biden.
From Cairo, where he is participating in an international summit “for peace”, without a senior American leader, UN boss Antonio Guterres immediately called for a “humanitarian ceasefire” to “end the nightmare” .
PHOTO KEROLOS SALAH, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
UN chief Antonio Guterres visited the gate of the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian side on October 20.
“Gazans need much more, a massive delivery of aid is necessary,” he added. The UN particularly highlighted the need to deliver fuel, vital for the Palestinian territory where some 2.4 million inhabitants are crowded.
The gate of the Rafah terminal, on the Egyptian side, was closed after the passage of the convoy, witnesses told AFP, while dozens of dual nationals were waiting on the Palestinian side to be authorized to reach Egypt.
More than 1,400 people have been killed in Israel by Hamas since October 7, the majority of them civilians who were shot, burned alive or died of mutilation on the first day of the fighters’ attack from Gaza, according to reports. Israeli authorities.
According to the Israeli army, around 1,500 Hamas fighters were killed in the Israeli counter-offensive.
In the Gaza Strip, 4,385 people, mostly civilians, were killed in incessant bombings carried out in retaliation by the Israeli army, according to the Health Ministry of Hamas, in power in Gaza since 2007.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Saturday that at least 17 of its employees were among the victims.
“Catastrophic conditions”
As the conflict enters its third week, humanitarian officials have echoed Mr. Guterres in calling for a ramp-up in aid deliveries.
An emergency, in the face of “truly catastrophic” conditions in Gaza, according to the World Food Program (WFP) and to “prevent avoidable deaths and reduce avoidable suffering”, underlined the World Health Organization.
PHOTO MOHAMMED ABED, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Aerial view of the humanitarian aid convoy entering the Gaza Strip on October 21.
The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen welcomed on Saturday “a first step” taken “to alleviate the suffering of innocents” in Gaza.
More than a hundred trucks loaded with tons of international aid, including nearly a thousand tons of emergency food products from the WFP, have been massed for days between Egypt and Gaza.
The UN also reiterated on Saturday its call for the “immediate and unconditional release” of all those kidnapped by Hamas, after the release the day before of the first two hostages, an American mother and her daughter, Judith and Natalie Raanan, via a mediation by Qatar, known to be close to Hamas.
PHOTO UNITED STATES EMBASSY IN JERUSALEM VIA AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Natalie Shoshana Raanan (left) and her mother Judith Tai Raanan spoke to President Joe Biden after their release on October 20.
The Palestinian movement, classified as terrorist by the United States, the European Union and Israel, still holds some 200 hostages.
“Very dangerous message”
The Palestinian, Jordanian and Egyptian leaders meeting in Cairo – alongside European leaders Charles Michel and Josep Borrell – for their part pleaded for a “ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas in power in Gaza since 2007 and a “solution” to 75 years of Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“The world is silent,” protested Abdallah II, seeing in it a “very dangerous message” on the value of Palestinian lives that “the Arab world clearly hears.” On Friday, tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Arab and Muslim countries in solidarity with the Palestinians.
“We will not leave” Palestinian lands, insisted Palestinian Mahmoud Abbas, while Cairo and Amman are up in arms against the evacuation of Gazans to the south of Gaza demanded by Israel.
PHOTO KHALED DESOUKI, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (center)
They see it as a first step towards “a forced displacement” towards the Egyptian Sinai which would, according to Mr. Abbas, amount to “a second Nakba”, the displacement of 760,000 Palestinians upon the creation of Israel in 1948.
As the Israeli army prepares for a ground offensive, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has set the objective of the war to “end” Israel’s “responsibilities” in Gaza, unrolling the rest of the operations on Friday .
Ultimately, Israel is considering among the possible scenarios “handing over the keys” of the Gaza Strip to a third party which could be Egypt, without any guarantee that Cairo accepts this scenario which has been postponed for decades, said a source in Israeli Foreign Ministry to AFP.
“I am afraid that the current destruction will follow a clear plan, that people will not find a place to live and that this will cause a second Nakba,” worries Omar Ashour, a retired general, in Gaza.
At least a million Gazans have been displaced, according to the UN.
PHOTO MOHAMMED SALEM, REUTERS
Palestinians, who fled their homes amid Israeli strikes, sought shelter at a United Nations-run school in Khan Younes, southern Gaza, on October 20.
Tension on the border with Lebanon
Tension is also rising in the north of Israel, on the border with Lebanon, which is emptying of its inhabitants as skirmishes and exchanges of fire multiply.
The United States has deployed two aircraft carriers to the eastern Mediterranean to deter Iran or Lebanese Hezbollah, two Hamas allies, from getting involved in the conflict.
At dawn on Saturday, the Israeli army announced that it had carried out airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, in response to rocket and anti-tank missile fire towards Israel.
Questioned by AFP in this border area where Israeli soldiers are now everywhere, a conscripted reservist, who requested anonymity, said he was “ready to fight” because “the Jews have no other country”.
The tension in the occupied West Bank also claimed a new victim, killed overnight in clashes with the Israeli army near Jericho, bringing to 84 the number of Palestinian deaths in the West Bank since October 7, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health