About 20 trucks carrying much-needed aid may be allowed to enter Gaza in the coming days -- bringing some relief to its 2.2 million residents. Israel cut electricity, most water and stopped food and medicine deliveries there following an attack by Hamas militants on 7 October. A deal allowing some supplies through Egypt's Rafah crossing has now been struck by the US and Egypt. But humanitarian organisations warn it will not be nearly enough. "The UN has reported that a minimum of 100 trucks of humanitarian assistance are needed in order to support the millions of civilians living in Gaza", Shaina Low of the Norwegian Refugee Council told the BBC. The World Food Programme's Abeer Etefa said that the situation in the territory was becoming "very difficult". "Food and water supplies are running out. The bakeries -- many of them have stopped functioning." Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of UN relief agency UNRWA, told the BBC that about 500 trucks a day had been entering Gaza before the war started. Some 1.2 million people living in the territory already relied on food aid from UNRWA before 7 October. "Poverty is very, very high in the Gaza Strip. Already before the war the situation was desperate -- now it is becoming tragic," said Juliette Touma, the UN body's spokeswoman in Amman. The agreement to deliver a limited amount of aid via the Rafah crossing was reached by US President Joe Biden and Egypt's President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi on Wednesday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Wednesday that Israel would "not thwart" supplies going from Egypt to the civilian population in southern Gaza. However, his government only agreed to allow food, water and medical supplies -- not other much-needed supplies like fuel. A UN report on Gaza said that fuel is a necessity, and a lack of it is contributing to the water crisis, as desalination plants and water pumps can no longer operate. Lazzarini said that if fuel could not be delivered, many more trucks will be needed to carry in water. — BBC
