Satellite footage shows Gaza aid lorries stuck in Egypt, waiting to be let in via Rafah

Aerial and satellite footage showed more than 2,000 aid trucks stacked on the Egyptian side of the southern Palestinian city of Rafah, Al Jazeera TV reported on Sunday.

The footage was recorded on 22 February, the channel said.

It showed aid convoys lined up on the Egyptian side while Palestinians on the other side were "struggling with famine and severe malnutrition", Al Jazeera's report said.

The outlet estimated that the trucks were carrying around 20 tonnes of aid each, enough to feed more than two million people in the besieged enclave.

Samer Abdeljaber, the World Food Programme's director for emergencies, confirmed to Al Jazeera that there was "enough food across the borders, even from Jordan and Egypt, to be able to support 2.2 million people".

"But we need to make sure we have the right access to Gaza from different crossings so that we can actually reach the people - whether they are in the north or the south or in the central areas," he added.

It comes as reports emerged of children dying of hunger, including a two-month-old baby who died hours after he was taken to hospital for being malnourished amid unprecedented famine in the north of the strip.

UNRWA chief Phillippe Lazzarini said on X that the last time the agency was able to deliver food to the north was on 23 January, adding that the UN has warned that famine can only be avoided if food convoys are allowed into the north.

"Our calls to send food aid have been denied and have fallen on deaf ears," he said. "This is a man-made disaster. The world committed to never let famine happen again. Famine can still be avoided, through genuine political will to grant access and protection to meaningful assistance."

Egypt - which borders the only crossing with the besieged Gaza Strip and has received aid from various countries to deliver to Gazans - has been repeatedly criticised for the limited entry of aid.

In response, it repeatedly accused Israel of blocking the entry of aid from the Palestinian side.

During a recent session at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Israel said Egypt was preventing the entry of humanitarian and relief aid into the Gaza Strip.

Israel has until 26 February to give evidence to the ICJ that it is ensuring the increased delivery of aid into the Gaza Strip and take measures to prevent its war on Gaza from being a genocide, which the ICJ ruled was plausible. 

Israel's war on Gaza, which has been ongoing since 7 October, has killed at least 29,690 Palestinians, with a further 69,870 wounded, according to Palestinian officials.