While the Israeli Air Force continues to strike any objective that is related to the military and institutional infrastructure of the fundamentalist group Hamas, also with the objective of paving – or destroying – the ground for the ground offensivethe civilian population of the Gaza Strip hopes that one of its doors will open today to receive humanitarian aid.
The green light from Israel, after pressure from the US, will allow the entry of between 20 and 30 trucks with water, food and medicine through the Rafah border crossing. For several days, different NGOs have been waiting in the Egyptian control zone to be able to enter an enclave radically different from the one they knew before October 7 when Hamas launched its most lethal attack and killed 1,400 people in southern Israel.
“The volunteers were very excited to go to Gaza in order to help them there with whatever it takes, but day after day goes by and they are disappointed and angry because they feel helpless, they want to help and they see that they can’t get in,” he lamented. Heba Rashidfrom the NGO Mersal Foundation, by phone from Rafah to Efe.
According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, the hospitals in Beit Janun, Al Durra, Al Karama and the International Ophthalmology Hospital stopped functioning. Its spokesman said: 44 employees died since the start of the war in a deadly balance that has exceeded 3,500. “Beyond what is going to come in, fuel is also needed for hospital generators, ambulances and desalination plants,” requested the World Health Organization.
Every day that passes is a test of survival for a Gaza under bombardment in which a million people have already abandoned their homes in search of refuge. The UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees set up tents in the southern area.