The United Nations (UN) said on Friday that the initial assistance delivery into the besieged Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt should happen "in the next day or so."
"We are in deep and advanced negotiations with all relevant sides to ensure that an aid operation in Gaza starts as quickly as possible... a first delivery is due to start in the next day or so," the UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said, quoted by his spokesman Jens Laerke in Geneva.
Laerke told reporters, "I do not have an exact time for when these movements will take place, of course, with the hope that they can begin as soon as possible, in a way that is safe, secure and hopefully sustained."
"We need to have the mechanism in place whereby this can be driven into southern Gaza. That does not take away from our call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire."
Desperately needed international aid piled up Friday in Egypt near Gaza, with Palestinians in dire need of food and water after relentless bombing by Israel, still reeling from the bloodiest attack in its history.
The UN says more than one million of Gaza's 2.4 million people have been displaced and that the humanitarian situation is worsening by the day.
Egyptian state-linked broadcaster Al Qahera news had said the Rafah crossing — the only route into Gaza — would open on Friday, but Cairo later said it needed more time to repair roads.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after the group launched a massive attack from the Gaza Strip on October 7, killing at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials.
In response, Israeli warplanes have levelled entire city blocks in Gaza in preparation for a ground invasion they say is coming soon. At least 4,137 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have died in the bombing, according to the latest toll from the Hamas-run health ministry.
The Gaza-based Al-Quds hospital, which is presently home to over 400 patients and 12,000 displaced civilians, has received a warning from Israeli forces to "immediately evacuate," the Palestinian Red Crescent reported on Friday.
The Palestinian Red Crescent issued an urgent appeal to the international community, saying: “We call on the world to take immediate and urgent action to prevent a new massacre like the one that occurred on the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital.”
Gaza's ruler Hamas said Friday its armed wing has released two American hostages, from around 200 captives abducted in attacks by the militant group in Israel on October 7.
"In response to Qatari efforts, (Ezzedine) al-Qassam Brigades released two American citizens (a mother and her daughter) for humanitarian reasons," Hamas said in a statement posted on Telegram.
The group did not detail how or when the hostages were released.
The Israeli military said earlier Friday that most of those abducted to Gaza were still alive.
"The majority of the hostages are alive. There were also dead bodies that were taken... to the Gaza Strip," an army statement said.
The military said more than 20 hostages were minors, while between 10 and 20 were over the age of 60.
There are also between 100 and 200 people considered missing since the Hamas attacks, the army added.
Aid trucks waiting to cross from Egypt into Gaza are "a lifeline" that need to move into the war-torn Palestinian enclave as soon as possible, the UN chief said Friday.
"These trucks are not just trucks, they are a lifeline. They are the difference between life and death for so many people in Gaza," said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as he visited the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing to oversee preparations for the delivery of aid.
Cargo planes and trucks have been bringing humanitarian aid to Rafah for days, but so far none has been delivered to Gaza which has been under intense Israeli bombardment for almost two weeks since the deadly October 7 attacks..
Israel also cut off supplies of water, electricity, fuel and food to the territory of 2.4 million people, creating chronic shortages.
The UN chief's remarks came on the eve of a summit set to be hosted by Egypt to discuss efforts towards deescalation and a ceasefire in Gaza.
Also on Friday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi received British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in Cairo, where the two agreed on the need to "avoid a contagion of conflict in the region", according to a Downing Street statement.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with Gaza on Friday to oversee preparations for the delivery of aid to the war-torn enclave.
Cargo planes and trucks have been bringing humanitarian aid to Rafah for days, but so far none has been delivered to the Gaza Strip, which Israel has besieged and bombed for 13 days.
"We are actively engaging with all the parties, with Egypt, Israel, the United States... in order to have these trucks moving as soon as possible," Guterres told journalists.
Rafah is the only crossing into the blockaded Palestinian territory that is not controlled by Israel, which agreed to allow aid to enter after a request from its ally the United States.
UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said on Friday that the first aid delivery via the Rafah crossing should take place "in the next day or so".
Guterres said there was an "absolute need to have these trucks moving as soon as possible and as many as necessary", adding that "this must be a sustained effort".
"We are not looking for one convoy to come but we are looking for convoys to be authorised in a meaningful number to have enough trucks to provide support to Gaza's people," the UN chief said.
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