On Saturday, the first trucks bringing help for people in need arrived in Gaza. This happened two weeks after Israel started blocking off the area as a response to violent attacks by the group Hamas, which follows an extremist form of Islam.
The trucks went into Gaza through the Rafah crossing. This is the only way to enter Gaza that is not controlled by Israel. The CNN team saw this from the Palestinian border. The crossing shut down fast after 20 trucks passed through.
The people on the Egyptian side of the border were very happy because the crossing finally opened after waiting for days. They celebrated by shouting and cheering.
The Hamas government said that the trucks had medicines, medical supplies, and a small amount of canned food.
But, even though people in Gaza really need these supplies, aid workers say there isn’t enough for everyone. There are 2. 2 million people in Gaza, but the help they are getting is only a small part of what they actually need. This is because Israel and Egypt have put a blockade on Gaza.
The situation in Gaza has become worse every day. The hospitals are almost collapsing, and the people there have almost no food, water, or other important things they need. They are being constantly attacked by Israel.
The help has arrived only one day after two Americans were freed from Gaza. These Americans were held hostage by Hamas who attacked on October 7th. However, the release of these two people has raised concerns about what will happen to around 200 other hostages if Israeli soldiers enter Gaza.
Hamas, a group that controls Gaza, has given back the people they were holding as captives at the border. Judith Tai Raanan and her daughter Natalie Raanan, who is 17 years old, are now going to meet their family members again.
For their family, the release was the end of a very bad situation that started on October 7 when Hamas members did a very bad thing to the Jews. They killed over 1,400 people and took many others to Gaza.
At least 4,127 people have been killed in Israel’s attacks on Gaza, as reported by the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas. This includes many women and children. Israel says it is only hitting Hamas sites.
Ben Raanan, Natalie’s brother, said that they are prepared to begin the amazing journey of helping her heal from her trauma.
But, he mentioned, many others are still experiencing the same problem.
“He said that there are families in Gaza and Israel who have suffered a loss that he cannot even imagine. ”
A lot of Israeli families went to a ceremony in Tel Aviv on Friday. There was a dinner table set up with 200 empty spots to represent the hostages. Shabbat is a special day of rest and thinking every week. It’s a time when Jewish families come together to eat and pray.
A representative from Hamas said on Friday that the two Americans who were being held captive have been set free because it was the right thing to do and to show that the United States’ government’s claims are not true.
Many world leaders, such as those from the United States, United Kingdom, and France, have welcomed the release. However, leaders from Israel are doubtful about Hamas’ reasons and have vowed to keep fighting back strongly.
The prime minister of Palestine says that unquestioning support for Israel gives them permission to kill people.
We have two hostages who have returned home. We will keep trying our best to bring back everyone who has been kidnapped or gone missing. “Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, expressed that we will continue fighting until we win,” he shared on social media last Friday.
Major Doron Spielman, a representative of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), told CNN on Friday that Hamas was making a ridiculous attempt to gain international sympathy by using the humanitarian issue.
Some people think that Hamas released the captives in order to delay a possible Israeli attack. Israeli forces have gathered by the border and told Palestinians to leave the northern part of Gaza, so there is speculation that they might invade by land.
Israeli officials have not told the public their specific plans, but they want to get rid of Hamas and its underground tunnels in crowded cities.
Rami Igra, a former division chief of the hostages and MIA unit with Israel’s intelligence service called Mossad, said that Hamas is experiencing a lot of pressure. They are using various strategies to prevent the Israeli maneuver into the Gaza Strip.
They want to delay or put off this action or event. They are trying to reduce the stress on themselves, and they will use anything available to achieve a ceasefire,” he added.
The US and its friends have not actively opposed this type of attack, but they have advised Israel to have a clear plan and objectives if they decide to invade. They are cautioning against a long occupation and putting a strong emphasis on protecting civilians, according to US and Western officials speaking to CNN.
An injured Palestinian child is talking about the time when a missile landed close to him.
However, more and more innocent people are being killed in Gaza every day, causing anger to grow not only in the Middle East but also in other parts of the world.
The enclave, which was already cut off from the outside world by Israel and Egypt for the past 17 years, became even more isolated after the recent war started and Israel declared a complete blockade.
The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has said that the blackout and the prohibition on importing fuel have had very harmful effects on the healthcare system and people’s ability to get clean water.
It said that around 1. 4 million people had to leave their homes in Gaza. This is more than 60% of all the people living there.
Over 544,000 people are currently living in emergency shelters authorized by the UN, but conditions there are getting worse. Many people are at risk of getting sick from unsafe water.
Egypt said they would allow the first aid trucks into Gaza through the Rafah crossing, which is not controlled by Israel. But there were delays in opening the crossing, and this made aid organizations frustrated because they were waiting to be allowed in.
However, the 20 trucks that arrived in Gaza on Saturday, even though they were urgently needed, are not sufficient to address the magnitude of the crisis.
Martin Griffiths, the head of the UN relief organization, said to CNN that we should work towards delivering aid to Gaza at the same level as before, which was 100 trucks per day. “We need to make sure that we can do something consistently and reliably every day on a large scale. ”
Tamara Alrifai, who is in charge of communicating for the UN’s relief organization for Palestinian refugees, agrees with this idea and says that what is required is a steady supply of assistance. This is not about doing something once, like sending 20 trucks and then stopping.