The World Health Organisation (WHO) plans to send up to 100 trucks carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing daily after Egypt agreed to open the lifeline.
Richard Brennan, regional emergency director for the WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean regional office on Thursday said U.S. President, Joe Biden, announced that he had secured agreement from Israel and Egypt to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza via Rafah following his solidarity trip to Israel on Wednesday.
Brennan said up to 20 trucks would enter the sealed-off exclave but is likely to reach Gaza only by Friday as the roads must be repaired first.
“We hope to get up to a 100 trucks a day. So, we have got to rapidly scale up that assistance. This is not a sprint, this is just the start, this is a marathon,’’ Brennan told CNN.
The official added that there were many factors complicating the aid delivery operation such as guaranteeing workers security, repairing roads and making sure the parties to the conflict respect the convoys.
Israel has confirmed that it will not prevent humanitarian assistance from Egypt as long as it is only food, water and medicine for the civilian population located in the southern Gaza Strip or for those evacuating to the area, adding that any supplies that reach Hamas will be blocked.
