1st shipment of Qatari aid enters Gaza via Erez crossing as displaced Palestinians return to north

A ministry statement said the shipment was allowed into the enclave through the terminal at the northern edge of the Gaza Strip from Jordan.

The aid comes within Qatar’s support for the Palestinian people “during the difficult humanitarian circumstances they are currently facing,” it noted.

According to the ministry, the volume of the Qatari humanitarian aid amounted to 2,600 tons.

Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians began returning to northern Gaza early Monday under a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that took effect on Jan. 19 between the Palestinian group Hamas and Israel.

The return of Palestinians came hours after Qatar mediated an agreement between Hamas and Israel under which the Palestinian group agreed to release female Israeli captive Arbel Yehud and two others by Friday.

The first six-week phase of the ceasefire agreement took effect on Jan. 19, suspending Israel’s genocidal war that has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and injured more than 111,000 since Oct. 7, 2023.

Seven Israeli captives, including four soldiers, have so far been released in return for 290 Palestinian prisoners since the deal came into force.

The Israeli onslaught has left more than 11,000 people missing, with widespread destruction and a humanitarian crisis that has claimed the lives of many elderly people and children in one of the worst global humanitarian disasters ever.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.