Egypt opens its border with Gaza to allow a trickle of urgently needed assistance.


Egypt Palestine Israelis

On Saturday, October 21, 2023, an Egyptian National Alliance truck delivering supplies for the Gaza Strip passes through the Rafah border gate. Mohammed Asad/AP PhotoINTERNATIONAL PRESS

Gaza Strip's RAFAH (AP) — For the first time since Israel closed the border crossing during Hamas' violent rampage two weeks ago, a trickle of badly needed supplies entered the embattled Palestinian enclave through Gaza on Saturday.



Aid workers claimed that the 20 trucks that were permitted entry were insufficient to handle Gaza's severe humanitarian catastrophe. For days, more than 200 trucks delivering almost 3,000 tons of relief had been parked close to the border.

Palestinians in Gaza number 2.3 million, half of whom have fled their homes, and they are forced to ration food and drink contaminated water. In the midst of a widespread power outage, hospitals claim they are running low on medical supplies and fuel for emergency generators. While Palestinian insurgents fire barrages of rockets into Israel, Israel continues to launch waves of airstrikes across Gaza that have completely destroyed entire neighborhoods.


The first prisoners to be freed were an American mother and her adolescent daughter, who were released by Hamas late on Friday. If there was a relationship between the release and the assistance shipments, it was unclear right away. Israel claims that Hamas is still imprisoning at least 210 people.