AMN / WEB DESK
N humanitarians said on Friday that an agreement to unlock aid deliveries across the Gaza border was near, as UN chief António Guterres delivered a powerful call in front of the gates at the Rafah crossing to get lifesaving aid moving.
In a passionate speech standing just a few metres from the Egyptian side of the crossing, he pointed behind him and spoke of the two million trapped without sufficient supplies now for nearly two weeks.
“We are witnessing a paradox: behind these walls we have two million people that are suffering enormously, have no water, no food, no medicine, no fuel, that is under fire, that needs everything to survive”.
“On this side,” he continued, indicating the convoy carrying lifesaving supplies, “we have seen so many trucks loaded with water, with food, with medicines – exactly the same thing that is needed on this side of the wall. These are a lifeline. They are the difference between life and death for so many people in Gaza.”
To see the convoy stuck at the border makes what needs to happen very clear, he said.
‘Make them move’
“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 said, adding that the UN was “now actively engaging with all the parties” related to conditions set for cross-border aid deliveries in the Israel-United States announcement and the related Egypt-Israel agreement.
“We absolutely need to have these trucks moving as quickly as possible and as many as necessary,” he said. “We are not looking for a win. We are looking for convoys to be authorized in meaningful numbers [and for] trucks to go every day into Gaza to provide enough support to the Gazan people.”
GEARING UP FOR GROUND INVASION
Within Israel, still coming to terms with the deadliest attack in its 75-year history, the drumbeat of war was growing louder, as leaders rallied troops for a ground offensive.
Clad in body armor, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu embraced front-line troops near Gaza, urging them to “fight like lions” and “win with full force.”
Fists clenched and voice raised, Netanyahu told cheering soldiers: “We will deal harsh blows to our enemies in order to achieve victory.”
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also toured the front line, telling some of the tens of thousands of troops awaiting the ground invasion that “the order will come soon.”
“Right now you see Gaza from afar, soon you will see it from the inside,” said Gallant.
Israeli jets struck more than 100 Hamas targets overnight, killing at least one Hamas operative, the army said Friday.
The horror of what Israel suffered on October 7 and following days was still emerging, as traumatized residents recounted their stories.
Shachar Butler, a security chief at the Nir Oz kibbutz, where Hamas militants killed or kidnapped a quarter of the 400 residents, recalls more than a dozen gunmen spraying bullets indiscriminately and lobbing grenades at homes.
“It’s unimaginable,” the 40-year-old told AFP as part of a trip organized by the Israeli military.
“Anytime someone tried to touch my window, I shot him,” he said. “The people who came out got kidnapped, killed, executed, slaughtered.”
Butler estimated as many as 200 militants attacked the kibbutz, entering from three sides before going house-to-house. Homes there were still charred with burned personal belongings strewn everywhere.
Israel says around 1,500 Hamas fighters were killed in clashes before its army regained control of the areas under attack.