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Trucks with humanitarian aid cross the border from Egypt to the Gaza Strip. The picture was taken on November 24.
1 / 2Photo: Hatem Ali/AP/TT
On Saturday, a total of 61 trucks with emergency aid were delivered to northern Gaza, according to the UN humanitarian agency Ocha.
The al-Shifa hospital has received aid shipments in the form of ambulances and buses to be used in evacuations.
A further 187 trucks with aid material had crossed the border to the Palestinian side at 19:00 and were waiting to deliver their cargo to the war-affected area, Ocha writes in a press release.
The emergency deliveries, which take place with the assistance of the Palestinian and Egyptian Red Crescent, began in connection with the pause in fighting between Israel and terror-labelled Hamas.
“The longer the break lasts, the more emergency aid humanitarian organizations will be able to send into and around Gaza,” writes Ocha in the press release.
Eleven ambulances, three buses and a truck have arrived at al-Shifa hospital to facilitate “evacuations”, according to Ocha.
The exchange between Israel and Hamas continued on Saturday. A group of 17 hostages – thirteen Israelis and four Thais – returned late Saturday night to Israeli territory after being released.
Just before midnight, Israeli prison authorities announced that 39 Palestinians had been released as part of the settlement. A couple of hours later, a bus carrying a group of freedmen arrived in the West Bank, and was received by hundreds of people who gathered to welcome them.
The temporary ceasefire – the first since the war started in early October – began early Friday morning and is expected to last at least four days. Altogether, at least 50 of the hostages are to be released by the militant Islamist movement Hamas during the pause in the fighting. 150 Palestinian prisoners to be released by Israel.