The aid shipment to the besieged Palestinian enclave includes tents, food, medical supplies, and ambulances.
On Tuesday, Qatar dispatched over 30 tonnes of aid to Egypt for Palestinians in Gaza, bringing the total number of planes from the Gulf State to 27, with support totaling 910 tonnes.
The aid comes as the Qatar and Egypt-meditated humanitarian pause reached an extension of two days on Monday, hours before the initial four-day truce in Gaza was set to expire.
The truce agreement allowed more aid trucks into Gaza, where the civilian population faces food, fuel, drinking water, and medicine shortages due to a near-total blockade by Israel since the breakout of the war.
According to Reuters, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that the disease could kill more Palestinians than bombings in the Gaza Strip if the health and sanitation systems are not restored.
“Eventually we will see more people dying from disease than from bombardment if we are not able to put back together this health system,” said Margaret Harris, a spokesperson for WHO.
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) also expressed that there is an immediate risk of starvation.
Upon dispatch of the aid, Qatar’s foreign ministry said on X that the latest aid package “comes within the framework of the State of Qatar’s support for the brotherly Palestinian people during the difficult humanitarian conditions they are currently exposed to.”
During the Gulf State’s weekly press briefing on Gaza, the Official Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Majed bin Mohammed Al Ansari, issued a statement saying for the next 48 hours, the country will be “exerting continuous and diligent efforts within the framework of its mediation to reach an extension of the humanitarian pause in the Gaza Strip.”
“We are working to extend the ceasefire as long as Hamas is able to guarantee the release of 10 hostages daily,” Al Ansari added.
Outside of an increase in the flow of humanitarian aid, the deal could see an extension of the truce if at least 10 Israeli captives are released each extra day.
The truce is due to end on Thursday morning at 7 a.m. Gaza local time.
On Monday, the United Nations said that the pause in battle had allowed humanitarian aid groups to deliver essential needs to Palestinians in North Gaza, marking the first time a humanitarian organization reached the north of the Strip since it was sealed off by the Israeli ground invasion on October 30th.
Stephane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, also applauded Qatar’s involvement in negotiating the pact on Monday while also calling for a ceasefire.
“The dialogue that led to the agreement must continue, resulting in a full humanitarian ceasefire, for the benefit of the people of Gaza, Israel, and the wider region. The Secretary General once again calls for the remaining hostages to be released immediately and unconditionally,” a statement from the UN website read.
When reporters at the UN Headquarters asked about the extension of the truce, Guterres said that it was “a glimpse of hope and humanity in the middle of the darkness of war.”
