Russia announced that it had sent 27 tons of humanitarian aid to civilians in the Gaza Strip, which will be transported from Egypt.
“A special plane took off from Ramenskoye airport, near the capital Moscow, to the city of El-Arish in Egypt. Russian humanitarian aid will be delivered to the Egyptian Red Crescent Organization for brought to the Gaza Strip,” Russian Deputy Minister of Emergency Situations Ilya Denisov said in a statement today.
According to the Russian Deputy Minister, the aid includes wheat, sugar, rice and pasta. The Russian Foreign Ministry also posted a video showing aid being loaded onto a white Il-76 transport plane with blue and red stripes painted in the colors of the Russian flag.
Two days after the October 7 attack by Hamas, Israel declared a complete siege of the Gaza Strip, cutting off the supply of electricity, food, clean water and fuel to this area of more than 2 million people. About a million people in Gaza have had to leave their homes.
Many countries and international organizations criticized Israel’s move for violating international law, leaving civilians in the Gaza Strip in dire circumstances.
During the visit of US President Joe Biden, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Office on October 18 announced that it would not prevent shipments of water, food and medicine into the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border gate from Egypt, starting from October 20, as long as they do not fall into the hands of Hamas forces.
Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya said on October 18 that about 1,000 Russian citizens and their family members are stuck in southern Gaza. “They have essentially become hostages in the military siege of Gaza,” he said at a United Nations Security Council meeting.
Russian Ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov previously said that citizens of Russia and countries belonging to the Commonwealth of Independent States are waiting for the opening date of the Rafah border gate. According to the diplomat, the situation in the southern Gaza Strip is “on the brink of disaster.”
