On Sunday October 22, 17 aid trucks crossed from Egypt into Gaza for the second consecutive day. Nevertheless, the UN estimated that 100 trucks per day were required for the besieged region.
Journalists reported that on Sunday, trucks carrying aid crossed the Rafah border passage from Egypt into the besieged and heavily bombarded Gaza Strip for the second consecutive day. On that Sunday, 17 trucks passed through the border, after the previous day when 20 trucks delivered medical aid, food and water to the Palestinian enclave.
The United Nations estimates that approximately 100 trucks per day are required to meet the needs of Gaza, where more than 4,600 people have lost their lives due to Israeli airstrikes and over a million individuals have been displaced.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini emphasized the critical role of fuel, stating, “Without fuel, there will be no water, no functioning hospitals and no bakeries. Aid cannot reach those in dire need without fuel, and humanitarian assistance will be impossible.” This comes after recent declarations by the Israeli army reaffirming that fuel will not be brought into Gaza.
UNRWA is the primary humanitarian organization in the enclave, and Lazzarini warned that without fuel, they would fail in their mission to assist the people of Gaza. He noted that UNRWA is providing shelter for more than half a million individuals out of the nearly one million displaced in Gaza.
More than 40 percent of all Gaza’s housing has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN citing local authorities, and Israel has halted food, water, fuel and electricity supplies.
French news agency also reported that fuel trucks entered the Gaza strip through Rafah crossing, despite the Israeli army denying these claims
Fuel tanks entered the Gaza strip from Egypt through the Rafah crossing for the first time since the start of the war, according to a source located at the border crossing and a journalist
According to a source in Egypt and the UN for Palestine Refugees (UNWRA), there were six fuel tanks designated for fueling generators in two hospitals in Gaza.
However, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories’ spokesperson said that despite the reports, no fuel has entered Gaza through the Rafah crossing.
Gabriela De La Cruz, with AFP
