As Israel recommenced its military bombardment on Friday, aid was left stranded close to Egypt’s border with Gaza, with truck drivers predicting further delays in a complex delivery process that had briefly sped up during a weeklong truce.
Red Crescent officials and Egyptian security sources reported that fuel and relief trucks were no longer coming into the country..
UN officials described the resumption of fighting as “catastrophic” and said the continuation of aid delivery was in doubt.
The entrance of trucks carrying much-needed aid, fuel, and cooking gas from Egypt into the Gaza Strip has been halted due to the resumption of Israeli bombardment, according to a spokesperson for the Rafah border crossing.
Since Israel began besieging and bombarding Gaza in retaliation for a lethal October 7 incursion and the capture of hostages by the Palestinian armed group Hamas, Rafah has been the only entry point for aid into the coastal territory.
Ashraf al-Qudra, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Health in Gaza, appealed to “every living conscience” to allow the opening of the Rafah crossing amid an “extremely catastrophic” humanitarian crisis.
“The medical aid that entered Gaza during the truce is only enough for one day,” al-Qudra said in a statement. “The health sector in Gaza is out of service in every sense of the word,” he said.
His comment came as Israeli air attacks killed at least 109 people and wounded hundreds, according to Palestinian officials. Medics are struggling to help patients who are piling up on hospital floors amid a shortage of beds.
Over 15,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 7, Palestinian officials say. In Israel, the official death toll from the October 7 attack stands at about 1,200.
International flights have been landing at El Arish airport in Sinai to deliver cargoes of aid. Convoys of trucks have also been bringing aid from Cairo.
