Hamas says aid to Gaza from Rafah crossing is 'not enough'

The Hamas led government in Gaza said on Saturday that 20 trucks of humanitarian aid which entered the bombed and besieged Palestinian enclave were not enough. 

“The humanitarian includes medicines, medical equipment, and some food supplies,” Salama Maarouf, the head of the Hamas-run government's press office in Gaza, said in a brief statement sent to The New Arab. 

Maarouf said that “this limited convoy will not be able to change the humanitarian catastrophe that the Gaza Strip is experiencing.” 

He stressed that “it is important to establish a safe corridor that works around the clock to provide the humanitarian needs and services that have become completely missing.” 

“Moreover, we need to allow the wounded and injured to exit to receive appropriate medical care in light of the current inability to provide it from the health system,” he explained. 

For 15 days in a row, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been living in dire conditions amid a fierce and indiscriminate Israeli bombardment and a "complete siege" imposed by Israel. At least 4,100 people in Gaza have been killed so far, most of them women and children.

The bombardment began after Hamas militants carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, killing 1,400 Israelis, mostly civilians, and taking about 200 hostages.

Israel has declared "war" on Hamas but Palestinians in the territory, which has a population of around 2.3 million been under an Israeli blockade since 2007, say that the war is targeting civilians.