The ERC said the shipment includes 3,500 tonnes of food baskets and flour, more than 2,300 tonnes of medical and relief items, and about 2,500 tonnes of fuel products, part of Egypt’s continuing effort to sustain Gaza’s population amid war-time shortages.
According to Al-Qahera News, around 200 Egyptian trucks loaded with 4,000 tonnes of aid left the Rafah terminal early Sunday, organised by the National Alliance for Civil and Development Work (NACDW), a coalition of 17 Egyptian charities that has coordinated multiple missions to Gaza over the past two years.
The broadcaster said the trucks underwent Israeli inspection at the Karm Abu Salem and Al-Awja crossings before being cleared for onward movement. More convoys are expected once the first batch passes.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA) sources told AlQahera News that more than 6,000 trucks loaded with humanitarian goods are waiting to enter Gaza, while only 400–500 a day have recently been allowed through Israeli-controlled crossings. A few of those have carried fuel or cooking gas, the first such deliveries in nearly two years.
“Almost all agricultural land in the Strip has been either destroyed or rendered unreachable, leaving families with no source of income,” UNRWA said, calling for “unrestricted and sustained humanitarian access” until Gaza’s food sector can recover.
Earlier, the Palestinian Embassy in Cairo said Rafah would reopen on Monday for the humanitarian movement. But hours later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the crossing’s reopening “will be considered based on how Hamas fulfills its part in returning the deceased hostages and implementing the agreed-upon framework.”
The statement came after Hamas handed over two coffins containing the bodies of hostages, bringing to 12 the total number of remains returned under the US- and Egypt-brokered truce. Israel says the crossing will stay shut until Hamas completes all agreed returns, effectively tying humanitarian access to the hostage-exchange process.
Hamas denounced Netanyahu’s decision on Saturday as a “flagrant breach of the ceasefire agreement” and “a renunciation of commitments made to mediators and guarantor parties.”
The group said the closure blocks the evacuation of the wounded and sick, restricts movement in both directions, and prevents the entry of equipment needed to recover bodies from under the rubble. It accused Israeli forces of committing more than 47 ceasefire violations, killing 38 Palestinians and injuring 143 since the truce took effect.
“These violations reveal Netanyahu’s aggressive intent and his persistent policy of imposing a blockade on more than two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip under false pretexts,” the statement said. Hamas urged mediators to pressure Israel to reopen the Rafah crossing, implement all provisions of the ceasefire, and end what it described as Israel’s “ongoing crimes against the Palestinian people in Gaza.”
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