“We’re ready to deploy the supplies as soon as humanitarian access through the crossing is established,” Ghebreyesus wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

As part of its retaliation for Hamas's surprise attack on Saturday, Israel has rained air and artillery strikes on Gaza, which is a home to 2.3 million people, flattening buildings and killing more than 1,400 people, many of whom are civilians.

Israel blockaded the strip, severing all supplies including food, water, and electricity and putting the Palestinian territory at risk of a humanitarian catastrophe.

The Israeli blockade has exacerbated an already dire humanitarian situation in the strip, which has been under Israeli siege since 2006. 

Egypt has designed El-Arish airport to receive supplies from aid agencies and foreign governments to deliver them to Gaza via the Rafah crossing.

Egypt has said that the crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip remains operational and has not been closed since the onset of the current crisis.

However, vital infrastructure on the Palestinian side of the border crossing has suffered damage due to recurrent Israeli airstrikes, disrupting its regular operation.

Egypt has urged Israel to refrain from targeting the Palestinian side of the crossing to facilitate restoration and rehabilitation efforts.

"It will be a human tragedy," Ghebreyesus said, pleading for Israel to reconsider its decision to evacuate 1.1 million people to the southern part of Gaza.

On Thursday, a Jordanian plane carrying humanitarian aid for Gaza landed in El-Arish airport.

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