Aid trucks start to arrive in Gaza – 27 October 2023
–
TRUCKS carrying aid to help people living in Gaza have begun crossing the border from Egypt, but UNICEF says it’s a “drop in the ocean” compared to what’s needed.
Israel is at war against Hamas, the armed group that runs Gaza. Shortly after Hamas launched a deadly attack in Israel, Israel cut off food, fuel and electricity to Gaza, which left people there dangerously short on supplies.
Israel is now allowing aid into Gaza. On Saturday (21 October), a first fleet of 20 trucks delivered food, bottled water and medical supplies, but Jeremy Hopkins from UNICEF said: “We need to have at least 100, 200 trucks going in per day.” A second fleet of 14 trucks delivered more aid on Sunday, followed by a third fleet of 20 trucks on Tuesday, with 200 more trucks waiting on the border.
Martin Griffiths, from the United Nations, thanked aid workers and said the trucks were “a small glimmer of hope for the millions in dire need… but they need more, much more.” Another issue is that the trucks aren’t delivering fuel, which is needed to power generators in hospitals and to produce clean drinking water.
Gaza has a population of 2.3 million people and nearly half of them are children. Save the Children says that more than one million children are trapped in Gaza with no safe place to go, and that 2,000 have been killed there in the past few weeks.
Hamas fighters invaded Israel from Gaza on 7 October and killed 1,400 people. In response, Israel has been hitting Gaza with airstrikes. Its forces say that, at the start of the week, they hit 400 targets over a period of just 24 hours “to dismantle Hamas’ terrorist capabilities.”
Last week, a rocket hit a hospital in Gaza with patients inside. Hamas blamed Israel but, after looking at evidence, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “The British Government judges that the explosion was likely caused by a missile… that was launched from within Gaza towards Israel.” That could mean that Hamas is to blame. At least ten British people have died in the conflict since it began.
Four hostages released
Israel says Hamas is holding more than 200 people as hostages in Gaza. On Monday, Hamas had released four of them – two elderly Israeli women, an American mother and her 17-year-old daughter. One of the Israeli women said she’d “been through hell”.
World leaders are calling for all hostages to be released, as Israel’s military says it is “ready and determined” for the next stage of the war.
Teachers and parents – see our free resources around this issue at schools.firstnews.co.uk/freeresources
Published Friday 27 October 2023
Picture credit: Getty
