UN chief says getting aid swiftly into Gaza is a ‘matter of life and death’

The head of the UN has said that aid trucks stuck on Egypt’s border with Gaza are the “difference between life and death to many people” during a plea to “make them move” as quickly as possible.

The enclave has been facing near-constant aerial bombardment by Israel in retaliation for a cross-border attack by the Hamas almost two weeks ago that killed more around 1,400 people and saw up to 200 hostages taken into Gaza. On top of air strikes, Israel has also enacted a total blockade of the Strip, which has left water, power, fuel, food and medical supplies either having run out completely or dwindling. Officials in Hamas-ruled Gaza say that more than 4,000 people have been killed since the Israeli bombardment began.

Speaking at the Rafah crossing, Gaza’s only border point not controlled by Tel Aviv, Antonio Guterres said: “These trucks are not just trucks – they are a lifeline, they are the difference between life and death to many people in Gaza,” he said, speaking on the Egyptian side of the crossing.

“To see them stuck here makes me very clear – what we need is to make them move, to make them move to the other side of this wall to make them move as quickly as possible and as many as possible,” he added.

Work began Friday to repair the road at the border that had been damaged in airstrikes, with trucks unloading gravel and bulldozers and other road repair equipment filling in large craters.

Earlier, the United States had said details of a deal to send aid through the Rafah crossing were still being hammered out. Agreement had been reached for the passage of the first 20 trucks, it also said. UN officials have said this will be a fraction of what is needed. Before the latest conflict, about 450 aid trucks were arriving there daily. Has has called “talking abou 20 trucks” an “attempt to throw dust in the eyes” that is “misleading to the public opinion about resolving the catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza”.

Israel said on Friday morning that the status of aid into Gaza through Egypt was still to be determined. Fuel was not on the list of supplies Tel Aviv said would be allowed into Gaza. Israel has said it will allow no aid to enter from its territory until Hamas releases the hostages it took. It has said aid can enter through Egypt as long as it does not end up in the hands of Hamas.

Egypt and Israel are still negotiating the entry of fuel for hospitals. Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Hamas has stolen fuel from UN facilities and Israel wants assurances that won’t happen again. The Gaza Health Ministry has pleaded with petrol stations to give fuel to hospitals, and a UN agency also donated some of its last fuel. Gaza’s sole power plant shut down last week, forcing Palestinians to rely on generators, and no fuel has gone in since the start of the war.

The agency’s donation to Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, the territory’s largest, would “keep us going for another few hours,” said Mohammed Abu Selmia, the hospital director.

Juliette Touma, from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, the UNRWA, said Gaza has “become a hellhole” over the last couple of weeks. Speaking to the BBC, she said: “Time is running out. It has been almost two weeks. Two very long weeks UNRWA has not been able to bring in any supplies into Gaza,” she said.

In Geneva, Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said Gaza was in dire need of supplies. “We are in deep and advanced negotiations with all relevant sides to ensure that an aid operation into Gaza starts as quickly as possible and with the right conditions,” he said.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has landed in Egypt, having visited Israel on Thursday. He is due to holds talks with the president of Egypt, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Downing Street said the UK’s “priority” is to focus on the opening of the Rafah crossing to allow humanitarian aid to enter and for British nationals to leave the bombarded territory.

More than a million people have been displaced in Gaza, while Israel has issued orders to evacuate the northern part of Gaza ahead of an expected ground offensive. Though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had called areas in south Gaza “safe zones” earlier this week, Israeli military spokesman Nir Dinar said Friday: “There are no safe zones.” Thousands have taken refuge in UN schools or shelters as well as hospitals, but this has added to complications in trying to treat the wounded.

UN officials said that with the bombings across all of Gaza, some Palestinians who had fled the north appeared to be going back.

“The strikes, coupled with extremely difficult living conditions in the south, appear to have pushed some to return to the north, despite the continuing heavy bombing there,” Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN human rights office, said.

Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, laid out the objectives of the military’s campaign against Hamas to the Israeli parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Friday. The first stage was the current military operation, meant to destroy Hamas’s infrastructure, Mr Gallant said, involving airstrikes and ground operations. Then the military would defeat “pockets of resistance”.

“The third phase will require the removal of Israel’s responsibility for life in the Gaza strip, and the establishment of a new security reality for the citizens of Israel,” the minister said.

Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report