Oct. 21, 2023.
United Nations aid agencies say a first 20-truck convoy of assistance that reached Gaza Saturday is “only a small beginning and far from enough.”
The agencies, including the World Health Organization, the World Food Program and others, say in a joint statement that more than 1.6 million people are in critical need of humanitarian aid.
“Vulnerable people are at greatest risk and children are dying at an alarming rate and being denied their right to protection, food, water and health care,” they say.
The agencies, which also include the UN Population Fund and UNICEF, call for a humanitarian ceasefire, along with immediate, unrestricted humanitarian access throughout Gaza.
“Gaza was a desperate humanitarian situation before the most recent hostilities. It is now catastrophic. The world must do more,” they say.
Meanwhile, Doctors Without Borders says Gaza’s health care system is “facing collapse.”
The global medical group says hospitals in Gaza are “overwhelmed and lacking resources.”
“We recently made a large donation of medical stock, including medicines, narcotics and medical equipment to Al Shifa hospital, the main surgical facility in the strip,” the group, known by its French acronym MSF, writes on the X platform.
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First aid trucks entering Gaza not checked for weapons. Report.
A UN spokesperson says the first 20 trucks of humanitarian aid to enter Gaza were not checked for weapons or other contraband, the New York Times reports.
Instead, the trucks entered via an “expedited process,” in which a manifest of what they contained was submitted to the UN, Egypt and Israel, Stéphane Dujarric says. The aid was given to the Red Cross for distribution.
He says the process will not be used again, and is unsure when more trucks will be allowed to enter.
