Convoy aid trucks await entry into Gaza. Photo courtesy: Al-Ahram
The convoy, part of the Egyptian Red Crescent’s Zad El-Ezza: From Egypt to Gaza initiative launched on 27 July, crossed from the Egyptian side of Rafah into the Israeli-controlled Karm Abu Salem crossing.
It included canned food, legumes, large quantities of hygiene products for women and children, and three fuel trucks.
Despite these efforts, the flow of aid continues to be throttled by Israeli restrictions.
On Monday, authorities allowed only 90 of 185 trucks from Egypt’s 27th convoy to enter Gaza, after blocking medical supplies and approving just three fuel trucks a day earlier from a 180-truck convoy.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian toll continues to mount. Gaza’s Ministry of Health reported on Tuesday that 185 people died of malnutrition in August alone.Since the United Nation's (UN) Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) declared Gaza a famine zone, at least 70 additional deaths have been recorded, including 12 children.
The ministry warned that “the catastrophic consequences of famine in the Gaza Strip are accelerating,” noting that 43,000 children under five are extremely malnourished.
It added that 67 percent of pregnant women are anaemic — the highest rate in years — with more than 55,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women suffering from malnutrition.
The IPC forecasts conditions will deteriorate further by the end of September.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres last week described Gaza’s plight as “without parallel in recent times,” warning that famine is now a present-day catastrophe rather than a looming threat.
As conditions worsen, global solidarity efforts are gaining momentum.
On Monday, the Global Sumud Flotilla — sumud meaning “resilience” in Arabic — set sail from Barcelona carrying aid and pro-Palestinian activists in a third attempt to break Israel’s blockade.
The group aims to reach Gaza by mid-September, amid intensifying international condemnation and diplomatic efforts to stop the Israeli war and allow the unimpeded and urgent entry of humanitarian aid.
Israel's genocidal war on Gaza, which began in October 2023, has killed at least 63,557 Palestinians — most of them women and children — and injured 160,660, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
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