For the most vulnerable inmates, there is a plea for mercy
The Palestinian Border: U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres’s First Call for Aid to the Gaza Strip
Many families in Gaza are waiting daily for news that the crossing will open, despite Israel’s continued shelling of the area.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, who arrived at the Egyptian side of the border crossing on Friday, called for aid to be allowed into Gaza as soon as possible.
Israeli officials say that 1,400 people were killed in attacks on Gaza by Israel.
Gaza residents are facing an increasingly acute humanitarian crisis. The territory’s main power plant, desalination plants and wastewater facilities have all been unable to operate for days, the U.N. reports. More than 4,000 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes and thousands of homes have been destroyed.
On a brief trip to Israel this week, President Biden had worked to convince Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to allow in aid.
The first aid to arrive in the territory since the Israel bombardment campaign began two weeks ago happened on Saturday when 20 trucks crossed from Egypt.
Hundreds of Americans have been trapped in Gaza since war broke out, and they are waiting for word on the border’s status.
Like many people in Gaza, Abuzayda, along with her husband and 1-year-old son Yousef, moved south toward Rafah after Israel urged people to evacuate from the northern half of Gaza.
The Palestinians in a Refugee Camp in the West Bank of the Gaza Strip: A Red Cross Report on the Israel-Israel Interaction
On Thursday night, a building nearby was struck, causing a window to shatter as her son was sleeping nearby, she said. “I pulled him immediately, and I hugged him. He was freaking out. He was looking at me — he doesn’t know what is going on,” she said. “We are not safe here.”
In the occupied West Bank, tensions grew overnight after a confrontation between Israeli forces and Palestinians at a refugee camp in Nur Shams, northeast of Tel Aviv near the territory’s border with Israel.
An Israeli air strike and exchange of fire between police and the Palestinians took place in the camp, the United Nations said. The IDF said “a number of terrorists” were killed in counterterrorism operations; Palestinian health officials reported at least 11 deaths. The death of an Israeli policeman was reported by Israeli media.
According to Palestinian officials, at least 80 people have been killed since the start of the war in the West Bank.
Israeli officials said that Hamas had taken at least 20 children, including toddlers; more than a dozen people in their 60s, 70s and 80s; and people who suffer from Parkinson’s disease, heart problems, diabetes and cancer. On top of that, several hostages were gravely wounded by gunshots and grenades during the terrorist attack.
Red Cross officials said they were asking Hamas leaders to offer “proof of life,” such as a message, phone call or video that would prove each person believed to be held captive is alive. The Red Cross would like to see Hamas let in medicine and release the hostages with urgent health needs.
The UN Secretary General’s report of a severe shortage of humanitarian supplies in the Gaza Strip is “not going to stop yet,” said Carboni
“The starting point — and I have a hard time getting away from this — is that there are people who should never be there,” said Fabrizio Carboni, the organization’s regional director for the Near and Middle East, in an interview this past week.
The ones with specific medical conditions should be released more than the others. “There is no way easily to provide the medical help they need in Gaza today,” he added. “We asked for it. Today we are far away from it.
“These supplies are a lifeline for severely injured people or those battling chronic illnesses, who have endured a harrowing two weeks of limited access to care and severe shortages of medicines and medical supplies,” the WHO said in a statement.
Some food, mattresses and blankets were delivered, according to the aid workers at the border crossing. Notably, no fuel arrived, which aid groups say is needed to power hospitals and desalination plants for much-needed water.
According to aid groups, the UN’s report of a severe shortage of humanitarian supplies in Gaza isn’t close to being addressed.
“They are the difference between life and death for so many people in Gaza,” said U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during a Friday visit to the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing. I am pretty clear that what we need is to make them move to the other side of the wall.
“The shelling is everywhere. The Swedish man who was at the border with his daughter on Friday said that he was frightened more than if he’d been inside: “We are asleep next to the crossing, and we are afraid more than if we were inside.” He said they had been staying there for days, hoping to escape as soon the doors opened.
United Nations Secretary-General Antnio Guterres said that the humanitarian situation in Gaza Strip “isn’t going to stop yet”. “They…are the difference between life and death for so many people in Gaza,” he added. Guterres made the statement during a visit to the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing, where he met with Egyptian officials andUNRWA (UNRWA), the UN refugee agency.