WHO says medical aid ‘loaded and ready to go’ into Gaza

Five trucks of medical supplies are ready at the border between Gaza and Egypt, the World Health Organization said on Thursday, welcoming Israel’s announcement that it will not block the entry of aid into the Palestinian territory.

“Our trucks are loaded and ready to go,” WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference. He said he hoped the supplies would be delivered as soon as the Rafah crossing opened, “hopefully tomorrow.”

The delivery of aid is set to be the first after Israel said it would impose a “total blockade” on the narrow Gaza Strip that is home to 2.3 million people, cutting electricity supplies and halting flows of food and fuel, in response to a devastating attack from Hamas on Israeli territory on Oct. 7.

There have also been heavy Israel air strikes in the war with Hamas. The UN has warned of a “humanitarian catastrophe.”