People walk past trucks loaded with aid for Gaza, waiting on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing in Rafah. AFP
Under the Zad El-Ezza: From Egypt to Gaza initiative, the convoy departed from the staging area at the Egyptian side of the Rafah land crossing toward the Karm Abu Salem crossing, where Israeli authorities inspect all trucks before being allowed into Gaza.
The convoy carries significant quantities of humanitarian supplies and essential food baskets, including sugar, oil, legumes, infant formula, flour, and rice, a Rafah port official confirmed. It also includes medical and therapeutic supplies, in addition to personal hygiene items provided by the Egyptian Red Crescent (ERC).
The ERC continues its role as the national coordinator for relief efforts at the border since the onset of the Gaza war.
On Friday, the UN Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) formally declared a famine in Gaza — “the first ever recorded in the Middle East” — warning that half a million Palestinians face “catastrophic” food insecurity.
The IPC said famine is declared when three thresholds — extreme food deprivation, acute malnutrition, and starvation-related deaths — are breached, criteria its latest analysis confirms have now been met.
By the end of September, according to the UN, over 640,000 people in Gaza are expected to face Phase 5 catastrophic hunger, with 1.14 million in Phase 4 emergency conditions and 396,000 in Phase 3 crisis.
The IPC scale ranges from Phase 1 “food secure” to Phase 5 “famine/humanitarian catastrophe.”
UN agencies have also warned that child malnutrition is escalating at “a catastrophic pace,” with over 12,000 children acutely malnourished in July alone — a sixfold increase since January.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres described the situation as “a man-made disaster, a moral indictment – and a failure of humanity itself.”
According to the Palestinian health ministry, 281 people — including 114 children — have already been starved to death, while roughly a quarter of Gaza’s population is at immediate risk of starvation.
Between 27 July and 14 August 2025, 1,341 trucks entered Gaza through the Karm Abu Salem crossing, while more than 5,000 remained stranded on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing.
Since the outbreak of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023, the occupation forces have killed over 62,000 Palestinians and wounded nearly 160,000, with the majority being women and children.
At the same time, Egypt has facilitated the entry of over 45,000 aid trucks carrying some 500,000 tons of goods — 368,000 tons from Egypt alone — including 168 airdrop operations by the Egyptian Armed Forces.
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