The few trucks of humanitarian aid which are slow to enter the Gaza Strip will be totally insufficient to meet the more pressing needs than ever of its population, most of whom no longer have access to even a simple bottle of water.
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At the Rafah crossing, on the border with Egypt, which constitutes the only opening into the Gaza Strip not controlled by Israel, trucks filled with, among other things, food, water and medicine are piling up and waiting to be able to enter the cramped Palestinian territory.
Only 20 humanitarian aid trucks will be able to enter under an agreement reached earlier this week between the United States and Egypt. A paltry number, according to the United Nations (UN), which estimates that “100 trucks per day” are needed to feed Gazans. The latter were already 60% dependent on humanitarian aid before the start of the war.
We grab what’s left
“What is needed is not a small operation, but a lasting effort,” declared UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who is calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire”.
As Israel imposes a total siege on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, “critical” shortages are causing increasing tensions among the displaced, estimated at more than a million people, according to the Coordination Office of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
“Bottled water is largely unavailable and its price makes it unaffordable for most families,” OCHA said.
The father of a child killed in Israeli airstrikes carries him to his final rest at a funeral in Khan Yunis on Thursday.
Photo AFP
The lack of supplies to treat the injured is so serious that a doctor there told the BBC he was treating patients with vinegar found in a supermarket.
While Egyptian media announced on Thursday that humanitarian aid could finally enter on Friday, a World Health Organization (WHO) official said he was “unsure” that this would be possible.
Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant met his troops massed near the Gaza Strip border and told them to be “ready”, according to the ‘Associated Press.
The ground invasion appears increasingly imminent, as tens of thousands of troops wait near the border, mainly in the north, according to observations from the New York Times.
– With AFP