Aid convoy trucks bound for Gaza. Photo courtesy: Al-Ahram
The convoy, part of the Egyptian Red Cross (ERC) Zad El-Ezza: From Egypt to Gaza initiative, included fuel trucks, food baskets, and other relief supplies. It crossed from the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing to the Israeli-controlled Karm Abu Salem terminal.
Despite repeated UN warnings, Israel continues to restrict aid to a trickle, with fuel and medicine deliveries especially curtailed.
Thousands of trucks remain stuck at the Rafah crossing as Israeli inspections slow the flow of supplies, leaving food to spoil while Gaza’s humanitarian crisis worsens.
Egypt sent its 31st and 32nd convoys on Sunday and Monday, but Israel blocked large amounts of their shipments at Karm Abu Salem, with no explanation.
On Monday, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi accused Israel of committing “heinous killings and acts of terror for nearly two years, using starvation and denial of health services as weapons against civilians,” during a virtual BRICS summit.
He said the Israel's assault aims to “destroy the foundations of Palestinian life”, forcibly displace the native population, and “liquidate their legitimate cause.”
UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher warned on Sunday that “there is a narrow window – until the end of September – to prevent famine from spreading to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis. That window is now closing fast.”
He added: “Death, destruction, starvation and displacement of Palestinian civilians are the result of choices that defy international law and ignore the international community.”
The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has urged the international community to act to prevent catastrophe in Gaza City—as Israel has launched an escalated military assault to occupy it—where nearly a million people remain, and the collapse of essential services has left children “fighting for survival.”
Since October 2023, Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has killed over 64,400 Palestinians, most of them women and children, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
That figure includes more than 394 deaths from starvation, along with over 2,300 people killed and 17,000 injured by Israeli forces near Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid distribution points.
Egypt says it has provided over 70 percent of the aid that has entered Gaza since the war began, including 32 aid convoys since late July, when Israel—under global pressure—allowed a trickle of aid to enter the strip after a five-month total land, sea, and air blockade.
Aid tied to ceasefire
The flow of relief remains tied to stalled ceasefire talks.
On Sunday, Washington advanced a new truce and prisoner-swap proposal, which US President Donald Trump described as a “last warning” for Hamas to accept terms he said were already approved by Israel.
The Palestinian resistance group, however, had already accepted a Cairo- and Doha-brokered 60-day truce on 18 August, involving phased prisoner exchanges and expanded aid access. Israel has yet to issue a formal response; instead, it has escalated its military assault on Gaza City.
On Monday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned of a “massive storm” approaching the enclave.
At the same time, Hamas reiterated it was ready to release all captives if Israel agreed to end the war.
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