The conflict that began on October 7 between Israel and the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has resulted in the death of more than 10,000 civilians in the Gaza Strip. More than 1.5 million people are now displaced, and 690,000 are crowded into shelters run by UNRWA, the UN agency that assists Palestinian refugees.
Two special flights of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations delivered 60 tonnes of humanitarian cargo for residents of the Gaza Strip, including food and personal care products, the department said on Sunday.
Earlier, the ministry said on Telegram that humanitarian aid include food, mattresses, pillows, personal care products.
The emergency ministry’s two Il-76 freight aircraft, which took off from Grozny Airport in Russia’s Chechen Republic, landed in Egypt, the statement read. It added that the representatives of the Egyptian Red Crescent Society would transfer the humanitarian aid to the civilians in the Gaza Strip.
On October 7, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas launched a surprise large-scale rocket attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip, breaching the border and killing and taking captives in nearby Israeli military sites and communities. The movement said its operation, Al-Aqsa Flood, was in response to Israeli provocations and occupation of Palestinian territories.
Israel declared a state of war, launched retaliatory strikes and ordered a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to more than 2 million people, cutting off supplies of water, food and fuel. On October 27, Israel launched a large-scale ground incursion into Gaza, ostensibly to eliminate Hamas fighters and rescue hostages.
The escalation of the conflict has resulted in the deaths of some 1,400 people in Israel and more than 9,000, including at least 3,400 children, in Gaza, and has raised the risk of a wider regional conflagration amid fears that Iran or the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah could enter the fray. The UN and other human rights groups warned of a possible genocide in Gaza. SPUTNIK
