The first humanitarian aid convoy began entering the Gaza Strip today (Saturday) through the Rafah land border crossing with Egypt.

An Egyptian security source told Xinhua News Agency that 20 trucks carrying humanitarian aid began this morning to enter Gaza through the Rafah crossing.

The source did not clarify whether other trucks would later enter the sector or not.

Live footage broadcast by Arab satellite channels showed the entry of aid trucks from the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing into the Gaza Strip, in preparation for its distribution under the supervision of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

Meanwhile, trucks from inside Gaza, accompanied by United Nations vehicles, moved towards the Palestinian side of the border crossing to receive humanitarian aid.

The head of the government media office in Gaza, Salama Marouf, said in a statement today that the aid convoy is loaded with medicines, medical supplies, and a limited amount of food.

Marouf continued, "We are waiting for UNRWA, as the recipient of aid, to fulfill its duty in directing these needs to those who deserve them."

He warned that "this limited convoy will not be able to change the humanitarian catastrophe that the Gaza Strip is experiencing, and it is important to establish a safe corridor that works around the clock to provide the humanitarian and service needs that are completely missing."

Marouf stressed the necessity of permanently opening the Rafah crossing and bringing in all necessary needs for the service and humanitarian sectors urgently, in light of the near exhaustion of fuel, the depletion of the stock of medicines and medical consumables and its reaching the lowest level, the scarcity of food supplies, and the lack of electricity.

Yesterday, Egyptian security forces removed cement barriers that they had placed about 10 days ago in front of the Rafah crossing gate and carried out grading operations on the crossing’s squares after they were exposed to Israeli raids in the first days of the Israeli aggression.

The current aid convoy is the first to Gaza since the start of the ongoing round of fighting between the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and Israel since October 7th.

Speaking in front of the Rafah crossing yesterday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a humanitarian ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip “as quickly and widely as possible.”