The convoy, part of the Zad El-Ezza: From Egypt to Gaza initiative launched in late July by the Egyptian Red Crescent (ERC) in coordination with the UN, carried flour, rice, pulses, canned food, cooking oil, and medical equipment for Gaza’s collapsing hospitals.
The 36th convoy included 165 trucks delivering over 3,200 tons of urgent humanitarian aid to Gaza, comprising more than 1,840 tons of food baskets and flour, alongside 1,365 tons of medical supplies, medicines, and relief items, according to a statement issued by the ERC.
Israel began allowing limited aid into Gaza in late July after a five-month land, sea, and air blockade that produced the first United Nations (UN)-declared famine in the Middle East, but it continues to block most fuel. Additionally, the occupation has previously blocked Egyptian trucks carrying medical supplies from entering the strip.
Long lines of trucks waited at Rafah for Israeli clearance to enter via the Karm Abu Salem crossing on Sunday morning, with their movement slowed to a crawl, Al Qahera News reported, highlighting the severe bottlenecks choking aid flows.
Aid agencies say the blockade has crippled Gaza’s hospitals, water and sewage plants, and relief logistics, forcing services to shut down as generators run dry.
On Sunday, the Palestinian Health Ministry warned that Gaza is facing a “health genocide” and forced displacement, adding that Israel is blocking life-saving humanitarian and medical aid.
The health ministry's director general, Dr Munir al-Bursh, stated that thousands of chronically ill patients have died due to a lack of medication, 50,000 people were displaced in the past week, and more than 1,671 health workers have been killed.
It warned that hospitals in southern Gaza are running at 300 percent capacity as electricity shortages cripple medical care.
In addition to the fuel blockade, UN agencies said more than 86,000 tents and shelter kits remain barred from entry, leaving over a million displaced people without proper cover as continued Israeli bombardment drives thousands more from their homes.
On Saturday, the Israeli military ordered the immediate evacuation of Gaza City, claiming more than 250,000 Palestinians had "already left"; the UN estimates about 100,000 were forcibly displaced between mid-August and mid-September.
Relief groups, including CARE, ShelterBox, and the Norwegian Refugee Council, say they have been facing Israeli restrictions and even obstructions on sending tents, tarpaulins, and other shelter materials, warning that the shortage is now a public health emergency.
Aid workers warn that forcing thousands more south will intensify overcrowding in already overstretched “humanitarian zones,” where families lack money, shelter, and basic services.
Since the outbreak of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023, Egypt has been Gaza’s main lifeline, providing over 70 percent of all humanitarian aid that has reached the besieged enclave.
More than 45,000 truckloads, carrying 500,000 tonnes of relief, including 81,000 tonnes of fuel and 209 ambulances, have crossed from Egypt to Gaza.
El-Arish airport has handled over 1,000 aid flights, while its port has received 32 relief ships. The military has also airdropped nearly 3,800 tonnes of supplies.
Over the past 24 hours, eight people died from malnutrition-related causes, bringing the starvation death toll since the genocidal war began to more than 420 deaths, including 145 children, as reported by the Palestinian Health Ministry.
In August alone, 185 Palestinians died of starvation.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces have killed nearly 2,500 people and injured more than 18,200 others at distribution sites of the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) since its launch in May.
Overall, the ministry said Israeli forces have killed nearly 65,000 Palestinians and injured over 160,000, with more than 9,000 still missing under the rubble.
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