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The Guardian: The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, warns that the aid currently entering Gaza is insufficient to avert a humanitarian catastrophe. Despite a week of intense negotiations involving the US, Israel, Egypt, and the UN, only 20 Egyptian trucks carrying medical supplies have been allowed to cross into Gaza via the Rafah crossing point between Egypt and Gaza. This limited relief will hardly meet the needs of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents, who lack essential supplies like food, water, and medicine.
Israel insisted on guarantees that the aid consignments would be thoroughly checked to ensure they consisted only of food, water and medical supplies, and that arrangements would be in place inside Gaza for the aid to be distributed without Hamas involvement. Negotiations are also underway to allow fuel into Gaza, vital for running hospital generators and water desalination systems. The situation is critical, as the number of aid trucks allowed in is a fraction of the hundreds that used to cross the border daily.
Guterres emphasized the dire situation by highlighting the disparity between the fully loaded aid trucks waiting to enter Gaza and the empty stomachs of its residents.
The entire article can be read at the link https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/21/israel-hamas-war-aid-trucks-enter-gaza-egypt-rafah-border-crossing-opens
