Humanitarian aid convoy begins crossing into Gaza Strip from Egypt

Humanitarian aid trucks started entering the besieged Gaza Strip from the Rafah crossing in Egypt, reported Egyptian media.

The relief aid convoy included 20 trucks that carry medicine, medical supplies, and a limited amount of food supplies, Hamas’s media office said.

Egyptian state TV showed trucks that have been waiting for days entering the border crossing area from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.

Egyptian media earlier said preparations were underway to open the Rafah crossing to allow the passage of trucks carrying humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza.

Televised footage showed trucks moving towards the crossing in what appeared to be preparation to let trucks carrying humanitarian aid enter Gaza from Egypt.

The US Embassy in Israel said the Gaza-Egypt border may open on Saturday, suggesting that such a move would enable foreigners to leave the besieged Palestinian enclave.

In a social media post, the embassy said it had “received info” that the Rafah crossing would open at 10 a.m. (0700GMT).

“We do not know how long it will remain open for foreign citizens to depart Gaza,” it added.

Israel blockaded the territory and launched waves of punishing airstrikes following the Oct. 7 rampage by Hamas militants on towns in southern Israel.

Many in Gaza, reduced to eating one meal a day and without enough water to drink, are waiting desperately for the aid. Hospital workers were also in urgent need of medical supplies and fuel for their generators as they treat huge numbers of people wounded in the bombings.

Hundreds of foreign passport holders also waited to cross from Gaza to Egypt to escape the conflict.

Israel and Palestinian militants traded fire on Saturday after Hamas released an American woman and her teenage daughter, the first of some 200 captives to be freed after the militant group’s Oct. 7 rampage into Israel.

Israel has sealed off the territory for two weeks, forcing Palestinians to ration food and to drink filthy water from wells. Hospitals say they are running low on medicine and fuel for emergency generators amid a territory-wide blackout.

A line of empty flatbed trucks could be seen moving on the Gaza side, perhaps in preparation for bringing in the desperately needed aid.

The release came amid growing expectations of a ground offensive that Israel says is aimed at rooting out the militant group, which has ruled Gaza for 16 years. Israel said Friday it does not plan to take long-term control over the tiny territory, home to some 2.3 million Palestinians.