Twenty truckloads of medical and food supplies for besieged Gaza residents passed through the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian border and their cargo was handed over to the Palestinian Red Crescent, the Egyptian Red Crescent said. Rafah is the only border crossing between Egypt and Gaza.
The trucks had already returned to Egypt and the border crossing was closed, according to US media. Earlier, the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip called on Egypt to open the Rafah crossing to withdraw the wounded, fuel and medical aid.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his American counterpart Joe Biden agreed this week to allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. It will go through the Rafah crossing on a permanent basis. The plan is to send up to 100 trucks a day into the enclave, according to Richard Brennan, the WHO's regional director for emergencies.
The Gaza Strip has experienced Israeli air strikes on targets, including civilian facilities. Israel also suspended the supply of water, food, electricity, medicine and fuel to Gaza.
The death toll from Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip has reached more than 4,300, and over 13,000 people have been injured, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. In Israel, more than 1,300 people have died, according to local authorities.
Check out Sputnik Africa's gallery, covering the delivery of the first humanitarian aid to Gaza since the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.