Dozens of aid trucks were seen entering Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing, as preparations were underway Sunday for a ramp-up of aid entering the war-battered Gaza Strip under a new ceasefire deal.
The trucks, which will be inspected by Israeli forces before being allowed in, are carrying medical supplies, tents, blankets, food and fuel, the Egyptian Red Crescent said.
Egypt said it is sending 400 trucks carrying aid, and the United Nations has said it has roughly 170,000 metric tons of food, medicine and other humanitarian aid ready to enter.
“That’s enough staple food to feed the entire Gaza population of more than two million people for a up to three months,” the United Nations World Food Programme wrote in a statement.
Beginning Sunday, the amount of aid entering into the war-ravaged enclave is expected to increase to roughly 600 trucks per day, as outlined in the ceasefire agreement.
Israel’s aid blockade, imposed during its 2-year-long war on Gaza, triggered a severe hunger crisis in the strip, with famine reported in several areas of the Palestinian territory, a UN-backed body confirmed in August.
Claiming Hamas militants were stealing aid, Israel tightened its military blockade of Gaza and instead launched the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US-backed organisation in charge of distributing aid.
The fate of the GHF remains unclear, however, several Palestinians said on Sunday that food distribution sites operated by the group in Rafah and central Gaza were dismantled.
It comes as tens of thousands of Palestinians returned to Gaza City and the north of the Strip to the remnants of their homes in neighbourhoods that lie in ruins.
At least 1.9 million people across the Gaza Strip, which is about 90% of the population, were displaced in the past two years, many of whom were displaced multiple times, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA) reported.
An estimated 83% of all structures in Gaza City have been destroyed or were damaged by late September, a report by the United Nations Satellite Centre revealed.
Roughly 78% of structures across all of Gaza had been destroyed or sustained damage by July, it added.
Around 61 million tonnes of debris, which is the equivalent of 25 Eiffel Towers by volume, will need to be cleared from the Palestinian territory, the United Nations Environment Programme reported.
The World Bank estimated more than $50 billion (€43bn) is needed to rebuild Gaza.
Trump to visit Israel before attending peace summit in Egypt
Meanwhile, regional and international leaders are scheduled to convene in Egypt on Monday for a peace summit.
The meeting, set to take place in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm El Sheikh, will include a formal “signing ceremony” for the peace plan, which is expected to bring final clarity to the deal, particularly concerning post-conflict security, governance, and reconstruction.
French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and US President Donald Trump are among those who will attend.
Also European Council President Antonio Costa confirmed his attendance.
Before traveling to Egypt, Trump is expected to arrive in Israel on Monday morning. According to a White House statement, the US leader will meet with families of the hostages and deliver an address at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.
