Palestinians say 'limited' aid entering Gaza not enough

Palestinian officials in Gaza have said the "first limited convoy of basic needs" that has entered the besieged strip through Egypt was not enough and stressed that a humanitarian corridor must remain open permanently to allow the entry of more supplies and the exit of wounded people needing treatment abroad. 

Salama Marouf, the head of the Gaza-based government media office, said in a statement the aid trucks about to enter on Saturday morning would not be able to "change the humanitarian catastrophe that the Gaza Strip is experiencing".

Earlier on Saturday, the US Embassy in Jerusalem on the social media platform X said it received information that the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt would open at 10am local time (7am GMT). 

"If the border is opened, we do not know how long it will remain open for foreign citizens to depart," the embassy said. 

At around 10:13am, Al Jazeera reported aid trucks began to enter through the border crossing for the first time in two weeks. 

Marouf added in his statement that Unrwa, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees that is set to receive the aid, should distribute it across the Gaza Strip. His call came amid some reports that the entry of aid was conditioned on it being distributed only in southern Gaza.