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Egypt 3rd aid convoy heads to Gaza with 1,300 tons of supplies - Foreign Affairs

Egypt 3rd aid convoy heads to Gaza with 1,300 tons of supplies - Foreign Affairs

Al-Ahram Weekly5 days ago
The Egyptian Red Crescent (ERC) announced Tuesday that the third humanitarian aid convoy is on its way to the southern Gaza Strip via the Karm Abu Salem crossing, carrying around 1,300 tons of urgent food, medical, and relief supplies.
According to an ERC statement, the convoy includes around 440 tons of food baskets, 450 tons of flour, 150 tons of medical supplies, and roughly 200 tons of personal care items.
On Sunday, the ERC, the national coordination body for aid delivery to the Gaza Strip, launched its first aid convoy to Gaza after months of Israeli blockade.
The first convoy, named the 'Zad Al-Ezza: From Egypt to Gaza,' consisted of over 100 trucks, carrying over 1,200 tons of food supplies, including around 840 tons of flour and 450 tons of food baskets.
On Monday, Egypt dispatched its second convoy to Gaza, comprising 135 trucks loaded with more than 1,500 tons of aid, including 965 tons of food baskets, 350 tons of flour, and 200 tons of personal care items.
The ERC's efforts come as part of Egypt's steadfast support for the Palestinian people amid the ongoing famine in Gaza, aiming to alleviate their suffering exacerbated by the Israeli genocidal war and around five months of blockade.
The ERC, supported by 35,000 volunteers, is working tirelessly across all logistics hubs to ensure a steady flow of aid into Gaza.
Since 7 October 2023, the ERC has delivered 35,000 aid trucks to the Gaza Strip, carrying over 500,000 tons of direly needed humanitarian assistance.
These include food, water, medicines, medical equipment, relief supplies, hygiene kits, shelter materials, baby formula and diapers, as well as ambulances and fuel trucks.
Although Israel announced on Saturday a "tactical pause" in its military operations in parts of Gaza to allow the deliveries of humanitarian aid convoys to the strip, it bizarrely continued its attacks, killing more civilians.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army allowed the resumption of air-dropping aid into the Gaza Strip.
"The air-dropping of aid would not end the mass starvation in Gaza, caused by months of Israeli blockade on food and supplies," said Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
According to a previous UN estimation, 600-800 humanitarian aid trucks are needed daily to keep the Gaza population alive.
The delivery of aid convoys came after a broad global condemnation of Israel's policies of mass starvation and blockade, which pushed Gaza's 2.3 million population into a catastrophic famine.
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