The first aid trucks arrived in war-torn Gaza from Egypt on Saturday, bringing urgent humanitarian relief to the Hamas-controlled Palestinian enclave suffering what the UN chief labelled a “godawful nightmare”.

Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after the militant group carried out the deadliest attack in the country’s history on October 7.

Hamas militants killed at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians who were shot, mutilated or burnt to death, and took more than 200 hostages, according to Israeli officials.

Israel has retaliated with a relentless bombing campaign on Gaza that has killed more than 4,300 Palestinians, mainly civilians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

An Israeli siege has cut food, water, electricity and fuel supplies to the densely populated and long-blockaded territory of 2.4 million people, sparking fears of a humanitarian catastrophe.

AFP journalists on Saturday saw 20 trucks from the Egyptian Red Crescent, which is responsible for delivering aid from various UN agencies, pass through the Rafah border crossing from Egypt into Gaza.

The crossing – the only one into Gaza not controlled by Israel – closed again after the trucks passed.

The lorries had been waiting for days on the Egyptian side after Israel agreed to a request from its main ally the United States to allow aid to enter.

UN chief Antonio Guterres warned Friday that the relief supplies were “the difference between life and death” for many Gazans, more than one million of whom have been displaced.

“Much more” aid needs to be sent, he told a peace summit in Egypt on Saturday.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken welcomed the aid and urged “all parties” to keep the Rafah crossing open.

But a Hamas spokesman said “even dozens” of such convoys could not meet Gaza’s needs, especially as no fuel was being allowed in to help distribute the supplies to those in need.

Israel to step up Gaza strikes: military

Israel is to step up its punishing strikes in Gaza to increase pressure on Hamas, a military spokesman said Saturday as top officers warned troops to be ready to enter the besieged Palestinian territory.

Israel has massed tens of thousands of troops and hundreds of tanks along the Gaza border for a widely anticipated ground invasion.

“We have to enter the next phase of the war in the best conditions, not according to what anyone tells us,” military spokesman Admiral Daniel Hagari told a press conference.

“From today, we are increasing the strikes and minimising the danger.

“We will increase the attacks and therefore I called on Gaza City residents to continue moving south for their safety,” Hagari added.

Russia seeks new Security Council meeting on Gaza war

Russia intends to hold another UN Security Council meeting on the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the war between Israel and militant group Hamas, Russia’s deputy UN envoy said Saturday.

Russia convened a meeting on the war on Monday but its ceasefire resolution failed due to opposition from four council members including the US, which criticised its draft for not mentioning Hamas.

“We will definitely convene a new meeting of the Security Council. As practice has shown, no one but us dares to do so,” Russia’s deputy permanent representative to the UN Dmitry Polyansky said.

He did not say when Russia, one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, would hold the meeting.

“Regarding a resolution, I don’t know how fast we’ll get to the next stage of trying to pass a resolution,” he added.

He was speaking in an interview on the Solovyov Live TV channel.

Nearly 100,000 pro-Palestinians march in London: police

Police in London said nearly 100,000 people marched in the capital Saturday in an event organised by pro-Palestinian groups calling for “an end to the war on Gaza”.

Marchers held signs reading “Freedom for Palestine” and “Stop Bombing Gaza” and “End Israeli Apartheid”. Many waved Palestinian flags and some chanted “5, 6, 7, 8, Israel is a terrorist state” and “Free Palestine”.

Gaza death toll rises to 4,385

At least 4,385 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Israel began bombarding the Palestinian enclave, including 1,756 children, the Hamas-controlled health ministry said Saturday.

The ministry said another 13,561 people had been wounded in the Israeli strikes, which began on October 7.

Humanitarian aid starts entering Gaza crossing from Egypt

Trucks carrying humanitarian aid for war-torn and besieged Gaza started passing into the Rafah border crossing from Egypt Saturday, a security source and an Egyptian Red Crescent official told AFP.

Egyptian state television showed several trucks entering the gate on the 15th day of the war between Israel and Hamas, the militant movement which rules the Palestinian enclave of 2.4 million people.

Israel has been bombing Gaza since Hamas’ bloody surprise attack of October 7.

The group stormed into Israel from the Gaza Strip and killed at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians who were shot, mutilated or burnt to death on the first day of the raid, according to Israeli officials, also taking more than 200 people hostage.

Israel has declared a total siege on Gaza and cut off supplies of water, electricity, fuel and food, creating chronic shortages.

Rafah is the only route into Gaza that is not controlled by Israel, which agreed to allow aid in from Egypt following a request from its top ally the United States.

Twenty trucks from the Egyptian Red Crescent, which is responsible for delivering aid from various UN agencies, entered the Egyptian terminal, an AFP correspondent said.

An AFP journalist on the Palestinian side of the crossing saw 36 empty trailers entering into the terminal and heading towards the Egyptian side, where they were to be loaded with the incoming aid.

Four ambulances, two UN vehicles and two Red Cross vehicles were also seen heading into the terminal.

Cargo planes and trucks have been bringing humanitarian aid to the Egyptian side of Rafah for days, but so far none has been delivered to Gaza.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday visited the Egyptian side of the crossing to oversee preparations for the aid delivery.

“These trucks are not just trucks, they are a lifeline,” he said. “They are the difference between life and death for so many people in Gaza.”