Father of American teenage hostage freed by Hamas says she is ‘doing very good’
The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza has opened to let desperately needed aid flow to Palestinians for the first time since Israel sealed off the territory, as the health ministry has announced the death toll in Gaza now tops 4,300.
More than 200 trucks carrying roughly 3,000 tons of aid began heading into Gaza on Saturday. The enclave’s 2.3 million Palestinians have been rationing food and drinking filthy water, while hospitals say they are running low on medical supplies and fuel for emergency generators amid a territory-wide power blackout.
The number of dead in Gaza rose to 4,385 on Saturday, with 13,651 injured since the conflict between Hamas and Israel escalated two weeks ago, the Palestinian health ministry said. It added the dead include 1,756 children and 976 women.
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of people are expected to gather for protests in support of Palestinians in central London on Saturday, according to Director Ben Jamal of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which is the group organising the main demonstration.
It comes as an Israeli military spokesperson confirmed on Friday night that American mother Judith Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter Natalie who were being held hostage by Hamas have been released.
