During a visit to the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing [8] on Oct. 20, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for trucks carrying humanitarian aid to urgently be allowed into Gaza. According to the UN, around 200 trucks [9] were waiting on the Egyptian side of the border. Some are expected to start moving "in the next day or so," according [17] to UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths. On Oct. 18, US President Joe Biden announced [10] he had brokered a deal with Egypt and Israel to allow 20 aid trucks into Gaza through Rafah—the only border crossing not controlled by Israel. The World Health Organization called [10] it a "drop in the ocean of need right now." In his speech, Guterres called [18] for "as many [trucks] as necessary" to be allowed to enter Gaza on a daily basis.
The UN estimates [11] that around one million Palestinians have been displaced from their homes in two weeks of intense Israeli bombardment [12] and siege of the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, when gunmen from Hamas—the political and militant group that governs the enclave—launched a deadly incursion [19] into Israel. More than 4,000 [13] Palestinians have reportedly been killed and over 13,000 injured, Gaza residents are struggling [14] to find clean water to drink, food supplies are dwindling, and the healthcare system is reportedly [15] on the brink of collapse.
From The New Humanitarian [20], Oct. 20
