Saturday, October 21, 2023
The relief convoy includes 20 trucks carrying medicines and medical supplies.
Palestinians have no safe place to go as Israel insists on evacuation.
The UN Secretary General visited a checkpoint on the Egyptian side of the border.
First-aid trucks loaded with humanitarian supplies arrived in southern Gaza on Saturday as Israel's nightmare siege entered its 12th day amid saturation bombardment that left dozens of Palestinians tormented overnight with war-torn people demanding a truce instead of food.
US President Joe Biden said this week that an agreement had been reached for 20 aid trucks to pass through Gaza's Rafah border crossing with Egypt, adding on Friday that he believed the first trucks would pass through within 48 hours.
Witnesses said the trucks left the crossing after the checks and continued to the southern Gaza Strip, including the major cities of Rafah and Khan Younis, where hundreds of thousands of people displaced by Israel's air war are sheltering.
But Palestinian officials were disappointed that fuel supplies were not included, adding that the aid represented only 3% of what was reaching Gaza in terms of medical and humanitarian aid before the crisis.
"The exclusion of fuel from humanitarian aid means that the lives of the sick and injured will remain at risk. Gaza's hospitals are running out of basic requirements for medical interventions," the Gaza Ministry of Health said.
Israel's "total siege" of Gaza following an Oct. 7 cross-border attack on southern Israel by militants from the Islamist movement Hamas has left Gaza's 2.3 million residents running out of food, water, medicine and fuel.
The United Nations said the convoy contained life-saving supplies that would be received and distributed by the Palestinian Red Crescent, with Hamas' approval. Israel warned that no aid should end up in the hands of Hamas.
UN officials say at least 100 trucks a day are needed to cover the urgent life-saving needs and that any aid operation must be sustainable at scale - a tall order now that Israel is carrying out a devastating bombardment of the enclave day and night.
Israel struck the densely populated area despite Hamas releasing two American prisoners held in Gaza, giving a "sliver of hope" to desperate families.
According to Israeli sources, Hamas fighters killed at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and captured more than 200 people when they invaded Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7.
The release of mother and daughter Judith and Natalie Raanan provided a rare "sliver of hope" as the fate of the captives remained unclear, according to Mirjana Spoljaric, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
US President Joe Biden, who declared himself "delighted" by the release, visited Israel a few days ago to show his support for the ally and push for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza.
I just spoke with the two Americans released today after being held hostage by Hamas. I let them know that their government will fully support them as they recover and heal.
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 20, 2023
Jill and I will continue holding close in our hearts all the families of unaccounted for Americans. pic.twitter.com/oXk6gfrD8M
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and says around 1,500 of the group's fighters were left dead in clashes before its army regained control of the area under attack on October 7.
Biden said Friday that he believed the attack was motivated in part by Saudi Arabia's plan to recognize Israel.
Israeli military activities in Gaza have claimed the martyrdom of over 4,385 Palestinians, mostly civilians and over 1,700 of them children, and are massing troops on the border for an expected ground invasion of Gaza.
However, this full-scale ground offensive carries risks, including hostages from Israel and around the world held by Hamas.
Dependence on humanitarian aid
Egyptian state television broadcast footage of Egypt opening the Rafah border in the Sinai Peninsula for humanitarian supplies after days of waiting by more than 200 aid trucks, with more supplies being stockpiled in the region.
The Israeli military said on Saturday that aid entering Gaza would only go to the southern areas, where it urged Palestinian civilians to gather "as we continue to intensify our strikes" in the enclave's north.
"I need a truce, not food"
Terrified Palestinians forced to evacuate their homes after Israel's deadly overnight bombings have hit out at reports of aid trucks about to enter Gaza, saying it is a ceasefire and not food they need.
"They were sleeping when a rocket fell on them, innocent children, their father, their grandfather, what did they do? Did they shoot rockets? Were they carrying bullets? They are innocent children who did nothing!" cried one tearful woman.
"We are fighting and the Arab nations are just watching. Canned food, is that the price of the Palestinian people who are offering sacrifices everywhere?"
Most of the population of Gaza is dependent on humanitarian aid. The heavily urbanized coastal strip has been under Israeli and Egyptian blockade since Hamas seized control 16 years ago, two years after Israel ended a 38-year occupation.
Before the outbreak of the conflict, an average of about 450 humanitarian aid trucks arrived in Gaza every day.
Israel called on all civilians to evacuate the northern half of the Gaza Strip, which includes Gaza City. Many people have not yet left fearing losing everything and having nowhere to go safely as the southern areas have also been bombed.
The United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs said more than 140,000 homes - nearly a third of all homes in Gaza - were damaged, with nearly 13,000 completely destroyed.
The hostages are freed, but the violence continues
Two women, mother and daughter Judith and Natalie Raanan, held hostage by Hamas were released, but violence continued overnight in Gaza.
Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for Hamas' armed wing Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, said the hostages were released in response to Qatari mediation efforts, "for humanitarian reasons and to prove to the American people and the world that the claims made by Biden and his fascist administration are false and baseless”.
Despite the release of the two hostages, Israeli jets struck six houses in northern Gaza early Saturday morning, killing at least eight Palestinians and injuring 45.
The Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the main Palestinian Christian denomination, said Israeli forces struck the Church of St. Porphyry in Gaza City, where hundreds of Christians and Muslims sought refuge.
Israel has already called on all civilians to evacuate the northern half of the Gaza Strip, which includes Gaza City. Many people have not yet left because they are afraid of losing everything and have nowhere safe to go as the southern areas are also under attack.
Asked whether Israel had followed the laws of war so far in its response, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated on Friday that Israel had the right to defend itself and ensure Hamas was unable to launch attacks again, Reuters reported.
"It is important that operations are conducted in accordance with international law, humanitarian law, the law of war... There will be plenty of time to assess how these operations were conducted, but I can only say from the United States' side, that continues to be for us important," he added
Israel vows to 'fight until victory'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to "fight until victory" in Gaza, signaling there will be no pause in his army's bombardment and an expected invasion of the enclave after Hamas released two US hostages.
They were the first hostages confirmed by both sides of the conflict to be freed since Hamas gunmen invaded Israel, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 200 hostages.
Two of our abductees are at home. We are not giving up on our efforts to return all abducted and missing people," Netanyahu said in a statement released late Friday.
"At the same time, we will continue to fight until victory," he added.
Speaking before a parliamentary committee, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that achieving Israel's goals would not be quick or easy.
"We're going to topple Hamas. We're going to destroy its military and governance infrastructure. It's a phase that's not going to be easy. It's going to be worth it," Gallant said.
He added that the subsequent phase would be more lengthy, but was aimed at achieving a "completely different security situation" without posing a threat to Israel from Gaza. "It's not a day, it's not a week and unfortunately it's not even a month," he said.
Normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia
President Biden suggested on Friday that the surprise attack by Hamas was aimed at disrupting the possible normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia that Riyadh is seeking.
Biden indicated that Saudi Arabia wanted to recognize Israel in comments he made at a campaign fundraiser.
Riyadh did not follow suit, saying Palestinian statehood goals should be addressed first.
"One of the reasons Hamas attacked Israel ... they knew I was going to sit down with the Saudis," Biden said. "Guess what? The Saudis wanted to recognize Israel."
A potential normalization of relations with Saudi Arabia and other Arab states was a top priority for Foreign Secretary Antony Blinken during his trip to Riyadh in June, although he conceded that no progress should be expected in the near future.
Blinken told CNN on Oct. 8 that "it would not be surprising that part of the motivation (for the attack) may have been to disrupt efforts to bring Saudi Arabia and Israel closer together."
Biden told CBS' 60 Minutes in an interview that aired last Sunday that the prospect of normalization is "still alive, it will take time."
A third of the houses in Gaza damaged
The UN Office of Humanitarian Affairs said more than 140,000 homes - nearly a third of all homes in Gaza - were damaged and nearly 13,000 were completely destroyed.
International attention has focused on getting aid to Gaza through the only access point not controlled by Israel, the Rafah crossing into Egypt.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited a checkpoint on the Egyptian side on Friday and called for a meaningful number of trucks to enter Gaza each day and for the checks - which Israel insists are to stop aid to Hamas - to be swift and pragmatic.
It’s impossible to be at the Rafah crossing & not feel heartbroken.
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) October 20, 2023
Behind these walls there are 2 million people in Gaza with no water, food, medicine, fuel.
On this side, these trucks have what they need.
We need to make them move—as soon as possible, as many as necessary. pic.twitter.com/GaogVeKtsl
Western leaders have so far mostly offered support for Israel's campaign against Hamas, even as there is growing concern over the plight of civilians in Gaza.
But many Muslim states have called for an immediate ceasefire, and on Friday protests were held in cities across the Islamic world demanding an end to the bombing.
