Dozens of aid trucks rolled into Gaza on Sunday through the Kerem Shalom crossing, marking the first wave of relief supplies under a new ceasefire deal.
The trucks, packed with food, fuel, medical supplies, and blankets, were inspected by Israeli forces before entry, according to the Egyptian Red Crescent. Egypt said it had dispatched 400 trucks in total, while the United Nations confirmed that about 170,000 metric tons of food and medicine were ready for delivery.
“That’s enough staple food to feed the entire Gaza population of more than two million people for up to three months,” the World Food Programme said in a statement.
Under the ceasefire terms, aid inflows are expected to rise sharply — from a trickle to nearly 600 trucks daily — bringing long-awaited relief to a territory battered by two years of war.
A Strip in Ruins
Israel’s aid blockade, enforced during its two-year offensive on Gaza, plunged the enclave into one of the world’s worst hunger crises. By August, a UN-backed report confirmed that famine had already set in across several districts.
Israel claimed that Hamas militants were diverting aid, prompting it to tighten the siege and instead launch the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US-backed initiative meant to manage aid distribution.
But on Sunday, Palestinians in Rafah and central Gaza said GHF sites had been dismantled, leaving the future of the programme uncertain.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Palestinians have begun returning to Gaza City and the north, picking through the ruins of what used to be their homes.
According to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), at least 1.9 million people — about 90% of Gaza’s population — were displaced during the conflict, many more than once.
By late September, a UN Satellite Centre report found that 83% of structures in Gaza City were damaged or destroyed, while 78% of all buildings across the strip had been hit by July. The UN Environment Programme estimated that 61 million tonnes of debris — equivalent to 25 Eiffel Towers — will need to be cleared before rebuilding can begin.
The World Bank projects that reconstruction will cost over $50 billion.
Trump Heads to Israel Ahead of Egypt Peace Summit
In a parallel diplomatic development, global leaders are gathering in Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh for a historic peace summit on Monday.
The meeting will feature a formal “signing ceremony” for the ceasefire and reconstruction framework — one expected to outline Gaza’s post-war governance and security arrangements.
Among the confirmed attendees are US President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and European Council President Antonio Costa.
Trump is due to arrive in Israel earlier in the day to meet families of hostages and address the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, before heading to Egypt.
Will this long-awaited peace deal finally hold — or will Gaza’s fragile calm collapse again under the weight of mistrust and grief?
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