By Pishtaz and AFP | 2023-10-30

More than 30 aid trucks entered Gaza on Sunday (October 29), the largest convoy to the war-ravaged Palestinian territory since deliveries began trickling in again over a week ago, the United Nations (UN) said.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said 33 trucks carrying water, food and medical supplies had gone into Gaza on Sunday, through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.

"This is the largest delivery of humanitarian aid since 21 October, when limited deliveries resumed," OCHA said in an update on the situation in Gaza sent early Monday.

To date, it said, 117 trucks had entered Gaza through the crossing since limited deliveries resumed.

Call to protect civilians

US President Joe Biden emphasized the need for increased humanitarian aid to Gaza during a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House said in a statement.

In a separate call with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Biden also agreed to "the significant acceleration and increase of assistance flowing into Gaza beginning today and then continuously," a second White House statement said.

Other world leaders also stepped up calls for needed humanitarian aid to reach the Palestinian territory, where Israel has intensified its air and ground operations against Hamas.

The Israeli operation comes more than three weeks after the Iran-backed militant group staged an October 7 attack on Israel by land, air and sea, killing at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and taking more than 200 civilian hostages.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron "stressed the importance of getting urgent humanitarian support" into Gaza.

Sunak and Macron spoke by telephone and "agreed to work together on efforts both to get crucial food, fuel, water and medicine to those who need it, and to get foreign nationals out," said a Downing Street spokesperson.

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan had earlier told CNN that Israel "should be taking every possible means available to them to distinguish between Hamas -- terrorists, who are legitimate military targets -- and civilians, who are not."

The White House also revealed Sunday that it had "worked on" bids to turn communications in Gaza back on, after communication was cut off when Israel slashed internet lines ahead of the intensification of its operations.

The restoration of communications was "critical," the official White House account posted on X, formerly Twitter.

"Aid workers, civilians, and journalists need to be able to communicate to each other and the rest of the world. Our Administration cared about this, worked on it, and are glad to see it restored," the post continued.

Efforts to free hostages

Speaking on ABC's "This Week," Sullivan slammed Hamas's own treatment of civilians, calling the militant group a "brutal terrorist organization" that is "hiding behind the civilian population."

"We do believe that thousands of Palestinian civilians have been killed in this bombardment, and every single one of those deaths is a tragedy," as those in Israel are, Sullivan said.

Sullivan also said that US officials are working to help secure the release of more than 220 hostages being held in Gaza by Hamas, as well as to help the hundreds of Palestinian-Americans stuck in Gaza.

"Many of them are still there, still waiting to get out, and we are working actively to try to make that happen," Sullivan told CBS show "Face the Nation."

But he said that while Egypt and Israel are prepared to let Americans and other foreign nationals leave Gaza, "Hamas is preventing their departure."