Aid delivery waits to enter Gaza from Egypt at Rafah crossing

About 20 trucks carrying much-needed aid may be allowed to enter Gaza in the coming days – bringing some relief to its 2.2 million residents.

Israel cut electricity, most water and stopped food and medicine deliveries there following an attack by Hamas militants on 7 October.

A deal allowing some supplies through Egypt’s Rafah crossing has now been struck by the US and Egypt.

But humanitarian organisations warn it will not be nearly enough.

“The UN has reported that a minimum of 100 trucks of humanitarian assistance are needed in order to support the millions of civilians living in Gaza”, Shaina Low of the Norwegian Refugee Council told the BBC.

The World Food Programme’s Abeer Etefa said that the situation in the territory was becoming “very difficult”.

“Food and water supplies are running out. The bakeries – many of them have stopped functioning.”

Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of UN relief agency UNRWA, told the BBC that about 500 trucks a day had been entering Gaza before the war started. Some 1.2 million people living in the territory already relied on food aid from UNRWA before 7 October.

“Poverty is very, very high in the Gaza Strip. Already before the war the situation was desperate – now it is becoming tragic,” said Juliette Touma, the UN body’s spokeswoman in Amman.

The agreement to deliver a limited amount of aid via the Rafah crossing was reached by US President Joe Biden and Egypt’s President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi on Wednesday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Wednesday that Israel would “not thwart” supplies going from Egypt to the civilian population in southern Gaza.

However, his government only agreed to allow food, water and medical supplies – not other much-needed supplies like fuel.

A UN report on Gaza said that fuel is a necessity, and a lack of it is contributing to the water crisis, as desalination plants and water pumps can no longer operate.

Mr Lazzarini said that if fuel could not be delivered, many more trucks will be needed to carry in water.

The aid agreement offers a glimmer of hope for millions inside Gaza. Prior to these negotiations, it had been unclear how any aid would reach civilians.

However, Israel has said it will not allow any aid to pass through its own territory until hostages being held by Hamas are released and and aid has not yet crossed the Rafah crossing into Gaza.

Speaking to the BBC’s Newshour, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said that was because the crossing had been subject to four aerial bombardments, and that there had been no authorisation for the safe passage of lorries and trucks into Gaza.

“I would hope there would be a determination as to why the crossing is being bombarded and by whom it’s being bombarded”, he said.

The exact timeline on when aid will get to those who need it remains unclear. The road on the Rafah crossing requires repairs before any trucks are able to enter.

On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden said the first trucks could start arriving in Gaza on Friday.

But Mohsen Sarhan from the Egyptian Food Bank warned that time – as well as supplies – was running out. He said 120 lorries were ready to deliver aid and were waiting at the border for safe passage.

“We’re very angry because we know people over there have run out of water. They have even run out of body bags. They have run out of everything.”