First aid convoy enters Gaza Strip via Rafah border crossing on the 15th day of the war

Humanitarian aid started entering the Gaza Strip on Saturday via Rafah crossing from Egypt.

The news arrived on Saturday morning that humanitarian aid convoys began entering the Gaza Strip from Egypt via the Rafah border crossing on the 15th day of the war between Israel and Hamas.

• The death toll in Gaza has risen to 4,137 since the Israeli bombardment began, the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said Friday
• The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt opened on Saturday, 21 October, at 10:00 a.m. local time.
• It is not known how long the Rafah border crossing will remain open for foreign citizens to depart Gaza

Egyptian state television showed several trucks entering the gate.

“The relief aid convoy that is supposed to enter today includes 20 trucks that carry medicine, medical supplies, and a limited amount of food supplies (canned goods),” a statement from Hamas’s media office said, adding they expect the aid “will not change the catastrophic medical conditions in Gaza”.

Earlier, trucks carrying medicine were being prepared and border staff were in place on the Egyptian side of the crossing, a security source and a humanitarian worker told Reuters.

The Israeli military said on Saturday that humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip would only be allowed to southern areas of the enclave, where it has urged Palestinian civilians to congregate to avoid its fighting with Hamas.

In a televised briefing, chief spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the aid shipments would not include fuel.

He also gave 210 as the updated number of hostages held by Hamas since its October 7 attack on Israel and said around a fifth of Palestinian rockets launched since Friday had fallen short.

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had earlier suggested the Rafah crossing was about to open.

“It seems that shortly, WHO health supplies will finally be moving towards Gaza through the Rafah crossing,” he said on X.