- UN Secretary General calls for immediate humanitarian ceasefire
- Israel tells citizens to leave Egypt, Jordan ‘as soon as possible’
The News Freedom
Chandigarh, October 21
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid passed from Egypt into Gaza on Saturday for the first time since Israel’s attacks on Gaza began, The Washington Post reported. With Gazans’ access to water, food and power cut off by Israel, the aid that entered Saturday — food and medical supplies but no fuel — was not enough to relieve the steadily worsening humanitarian crisis, groups on the ground said. At a global summit in Cairo, Arab countries condemned the killing of civilians in Gaza and called for a peace process, while the United Nations reiterated appeals for a cease-fire, according to The Washington Post’s report.
“The aid moved into the Strip amid continued rocket fire toward southern and central Israel, and as the number of confirmed hostages held in Gaza rose to 210. The Rafah border crossing was closed again after the passage of the trucks from the Egyptian Red Crescent, which is responsible for delivering aid from various UN agencies,” The Isreal Times reported.
The Israel Times’s report also said that it was unclear if any foreign nationals had left Gaza. Ahead of the opening of the border, the US Embassy in Jerusalem had warned of “potentially chaotic and disorderly environment on both sides of the crossing.” As the trucks went through, an Israeli security official told reporters on Saturday: “As of now, I can tell you that there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza. There are hardships in moving people within days to the south of the Gaza Strip, but the population is getting along.”, The Israel Times report further said
Meanwhile, The Guardian reported that the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, has told the Cairo peace summit that the time has come for “action to end this godawful nightmare” and called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. “I appeal for a humanitarian ceasefire now,” he said.
“Israel has called on its citizens to immediately leave Egypt and Jordan, and to try and avoid travelling to other regional countries, as tensions flare over its war in Gaza. the country’s National Security Council said in a statement on Saturday,’ reported Alzajeera