"BEYOND CATASTROPHIC"
A spokesman for UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths told reporters in Geneva a first aid delivery was due "in the next day or so", following a deal clinched by US President Joe Biden to allow 20 trucks of aid for civilians.
Medicine, water purifiers and blankets were being unloaded at El Arish airport near Gaza, an AFP reporter saw, with Ahmed Ali, head of the Egyptian Red Crescent, saying he was getting "two to three planes of aid a day".
But World Health Organization emergencies director Michael Ryan said Biden's 20-truck deal was "a drop in the ocean of need" and that 2,000 trucks were required.
The UN says more than one million of Gaza's 2.4 million people are displaced, with the humanitarian situation "beyond catastrophic" and deteriorating daily.
Refugees from northern Gaza told harrowing tales of bombs, profiteering, and extreme temperatures as whole families trekked on foot to flee the violence.
Mother of seven Fadwa Al-Najjar walked for 10 hours with her family from northern Gaza to reach a UN camp in the southern town of Khan Yunis, saying she saw cars hit by a strike just in front of them.
"We saw bodies and limbs torn off and we just started praying, thinking we were going to die," she said.
"IT'S UNIMAGINABLE"
On the other side of the conflict, the full horror of what Israel suffered on Oct 7 and following days was still emerging, as traumatised 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 organised 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.
https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMia2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vd29ybGQvaXNyYWVsLWhhbWFzLWNvbmZsaWN0LWdhemEtbGlmZS1hbmQtZGVhdGgtYWlkLWdyb3VuZC1pbnZhc2lvbi0zODYyMDYx0gEA?oc=5
2023-10-20 15:20:00Z
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