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Nearly two weeks since the start of Israel’s total siege of Gaza, aid organisations in and outside of the Palestinian territory are hoping for a breakthrough in geopolitical and regional deliberations to respond to the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation on the ground.
Aid groups have been warning that food, water, fuel and medical supplies were at dangerous lows as Israel maintained its stranglehold on the territory following the killing of roughly 1,400 Israelis in attacks by the militant organisation Hamas in southern Israel on 7 October.
Following a visit on Wednesday by United States President Joe Biden to Israel for talks with his Israeli counterpart, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it was announced that Israel and Egypt would allow for aid to be transferred to the area under certain security conditions. Biden told reporters on Air Force One as it returned to Washington that it may take till Friday to see any flows of assistance through the Rafah crossing – Gaza’s southern entry point from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, a region that is highly militarised following regular attacks by Islamist militants.
But on Thursday, about 20 trucks carrying aid remained on standby awaiting a green light from authorities, and – according to Biden – road repairs following Israeli bombings that were part of its military retaliation to the Hamas attack.
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