Palestinians in war-torn Gaza on Thursday awaited the arrival of emergency aid promised in a deal struck by US President Joe Biden, as Israel's military kept up its bombardment of targets in the Hamas-run enclave.
Cargo planes delivered stocks including food and medicine, water purifiers and hygiene products to Egypt's El Arish airport, awaiting the opening of the Rafah border crossing to Gaza.
Egyptian state-linked broadcaster Al Qahera News said the crossing - the only one into and out of the besieged enclave not controlled by Israel - would open on Friday.
On a visit to Cairo, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said there needed to be "rapid, unimpeded humanitarian access" after dire warnings about the impact of the sustained Israeli blockade.
In the wake of a reported Israeli air strike on a Gaza hospital last night that killed almost 500 people, the blame game has already begun.
Here's Gaza's health minister hitting back at claims that it was not Israel's fault ? pic.twitter.com/YA5Owo5iMI — The New Arab (@The_NewArab) October 18, 2023
In Geneva, the emergencies director of the World Health Organization (WHO), Michael Ryan, said aid needed to get in "every day", calling the deal struck by Biden with Israel and Egypt to allow in 20 trucks "a drop in the ocean of need right now".
Israel imposed a total siege of Gaza last week, cutting off fuel, food and water in a move decried by international organisations and rights groups.
Meanwhile, Israel continued to launch indiscriminate airstrikes against the besieged Gaza Strip for the 13th consecutive day on Thursday, as residents continued to mourn hundreds of people killed in a previous air strike, blamed by Palestinians on Israel, which hit the enclave's Al-Ahli Al-Arab Hospital Tuesday night.
The Palestinian health ministry announced on Thursday that 1,524 children were among the 3,785 Palestinians killed by Israel's fierce and indiscriminate strikes on the Palestinian enclave. The victims also included 1,000 women.
Source The New Arab
BDST: 1143 HRS, OCT 20, 2023
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