Five airplanes carrying humanitarian aid to the war-torn Gaza Strip landed Saturday at Al-Arish Airport in Egypt’s North Sinai governorate.
The planes carrying 175 tons of aid came from Russia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, Egypt’s Al-Qahera News reported.
A total of 187 aircraft carrying about 5,000 tons of aid landed at Al-Arish Airport since Oct. 12, according to the Egyptian Red Crescent Society.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, on Friday, the first day of the Gaza truce, 200 trucks were dispatched to the Rafah crossing, and 137 trucks of goods were offloaded at the reception point of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in Gaza, marking the largest volume of aid to the enclave since the outbreak of the conflict.
It added that three trucks carrying 129,000 liters of diesel and four trucks of cooking gas also crossed the crossing to reach the strip.
Under the mediation by Qatar and Egypt, Hamas and Israel on Wednesday agreed to a four-day humanitarian cease-fire to force a temporary halt of the fighting between the two sides, starting from Friday.
According to the truce deal, Hamas will release at least 50 Israeli hostages, mainly children and women, in exchange for some 150 female and teen Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons.
The halt to hostilities also allowed for the delivery of more aid supplies to the war-torn enclave.
Source: Xinhua
