London, Saturday, 14 October 2023
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Saturday that a plane carrying essential medical supplies for Gaza Strip residents has touched down in Egypt.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the UN organisation, stated on X that "a plane with WHO medical supplies to support the urgent health needs in Gaza has landed in Al Arish, Egypt – close to the Rafah crossing."
"We’re ready to deploy the supplies as soon as humanitarian access through the crossing is established," he stated.
He begged Israel once more to change its mind about ordering the 1.1 million residents of Gaza to be evacuated, saying, "It will be a human tragedy."
Out of the more than 2 million people living in the Gaza Strip, over 300,000 will have their immediate needs met by the supplies that have arrived at Al Arish, according to the WHO office in the occupied Palestinian territory, as was reported on X.
Against all cautions that this would result in a humanitarian disaster, the Israeli army ordered on Friday for all residents of northern Gaza to leave their houses and relocate south.
A week ago, Israeli troops responded to a military offensive by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas in Israeli territory with a persistent and aggressive military campaign against the Gaza Strip, which marked a dramatic escalation of tensions in the Middle East.
Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, a multifaceted surprise attack by Hamas on Israel that included a flurry of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel by land, sea, and air, marked the beginning of the conflict last Saturday.
According to Hamas, the operation was carried out in retribution for Israeli settlers' increasing brutality against Palestinians and the takeover of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.
Operation Swords of Iron was then initiated by the Israeli military against Hamas targets located within the Gaza Strip.
Israel's response has included cutting off Gaza's access to electricity and water, making living conditions even worse in a region that has been under a punishing embargo since 2007.
(Research and edit by, The Decision Maker - International Relations team)