Second Aid Convoy Enters Gaza

Egyptian Red Crescent members and volunteers gather next to a truck carrying humanitarian aid as it drives through the Rafah crossing from the Egyptian side, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah, Egypt October 22, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer
Egyptian Red Crescent members and volunteers gather next to a truck carrying humanitarian aid as it drives through the Rafah crossing from the Egyptian side, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah, Egypt October 22, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer
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Second Aid Convoy Enters Gaza

Egyptian Red Crescent members and volunteers gather next to a truck carrying humanitarian aid as it drives through the Rafah crossing from the Egyptian side, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah, Egypt October 22, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer
Egyptian Red Crescent members and volunteers gather next to a truck carrying humanitarian aid as it drives through the Rafah crossing from the Egyptian side, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah, Egypt October 22, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer

A convoy of 19 trucks bringing aid to besieged Palestinians crossed into the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing on Sunday, Egypt’s state-run media reported.

A total of around 19 trucks in the convoy carrying medical and food supplies had been inspected by UNRWA, the UN's Palestinian refugee agency, sources said.

The delivery would be the second shipment into the territory in the past two days.

Residents of Gaza have been under an Israeli blockade that cut off food, water, medicine and electricity since Hamas rampaged through southern Israel on Oct. 7.

The more than 2 million residents of the territory have been struggling under Israeli airstrikes and with dwindling resources since then.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said it will run out of fuel in Gaza in three days.

“Without fuel, there will be no water, no functioning hospitals and bakeries. Without fuel, aid will not reach many civilians in desperate need. Without fuel, there will be no humanitarian assistance,” Philippe Lazzarini, the UNRWA Commissioner General, said in a statement Sunday.

A first delivery of aid that was allowed to cross into Gaza from Egypt on Saturday did not include any fuel.

"Without fuel, we will fail the people of Gaza whose needs are growing by the hour, under our watch. This cannot and should not happen,” Lazzarini said.

He called on “all parties and those with influence” to allow fuel into Gaza immediately, while ensuring that it is only used for humanitarian purposes.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said some of the water pipelines in Gaza have been restored, but “there are a couple of other pipelines” that Israel should restore.

He told NBC News in an interview that the US has concern about the spread of disease caused by the consumption of dirty water.



Blaze at Cairo Telecom Building Kills 4 and Disrupts Internet, Phone

A boy wearing a mask looks on, as firefighters work to extinguish a fire that erupted in a telecommunications building in the Ramses district of downtown Cairo, Egypt July 7, 2025. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
A boy wearing a mask looks on, as firefighters work to extinguish a fire that erupted in a telecommunications building in the Ramses district of downtown Cairo, Egypt July 7, 2025. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
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Blaze at Cairo Telecom Building Kills 4 and Disrupts Internet, Phone

A boy wearing a mask looks on, as firefighters work to extinguish a fire that erupted in a telecommunications building in the Ramses district of downtown Cairo, Egypt July 7, 2025. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
A boy wearing a mask looks on, as firefighters work to extinguish a fire that erupted in a telecommunications building in the Ramses district of downtown Cairo, Egypt July 7, 2025. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

Four workers were killed and at least 22 others were injured in a fire that broke out on Monday at a key data center in Cairo, Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, the spokesperson at Egypt's Health Ministry, told Reuters on Tuesday.

The blaze at a Telecom Egypt facility, which state TV said was contained on Monday, caused disruptions to communications across the capital.

Egypt's Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Amr Talaat, said in a statement on Tuesday that services will be gradually restored within 24 hours.

In a statement on Tuesday, Telecom Egypt said it mourned the employees that lost their lives and offered support for their families.

The fire halted phone calls, and disrupted internet access, with internet monitoring group Netblocks saying network data showed national connectivity at 62% of ordinary levels.

The health ministry posted alternative numbers for ambulance services across different governorates in case people were unable to reach its main hotline.

Besides phone calls, some digital banking services were also impacted including credit cards, ATM machines and online transactions, a bank source and residents said on Monday. Banks had already been closed for the day.

The injuries were mostly because of smoke inhalation, health ministry spokesperson Ghaffar said on Monday.

The state news agency MENA said on Monday the fire had been prevented from spreading to the entire building and neighboring rooftops.

An initial examination indicated that the fire was likely to have been caused by an electrical short circuit, MENA cited a security source as saying.