Hostages and Gaza residents receive medicines and aid
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Transcript
00:00 Trucks loaded with humanitarian supplies snaked their way through the Rafah border crossing
00:05 Wednesday.
00:06 It's the first time the crossing has seen major traffic in weeks, as the UN says an
00:12 Israeli blockade has allowed through only about 6 percent of the amount of aid that
00:16 Gaza received before the war.
00:19 This has led to risks of starvation and disease among Gazan civilians.
00:24 The crossing will see an influx of aid resulting from a deal between Hamas and Israel, brokered
00:30 with the help of France and Qatar.
00:32 French President Emmanuel Macron said the negotiation is part of a larger plan to end
00:38 hostilities.
00:39 "As I said, we are conducting multiple humanitarian operations, with our military, with our diplomats,
00:48 with our cargo, medicine and food drops on the outskirts and in the Gaza Strip.
00:53 But the priority is the ceasefire.
00:56 We have to reconcile the defense of Israel and the pursuit of terrorists with the preservation
01:00 of humanitarian law."
01:04 Neither Qatar nor France specified how much aid will enter Gaza as a result of the deal.
01:10 But a senior Hamas official said that for every 1,000 boxes sent in for Palestinians,
01:16 one would reach Israeli hostages.
01:18 According to the agreement, the Red Cross will provide 45 hostages who have chronic
01:23 illnesses with three months' worth of medication.
01:27 This is the first known agreement between the warring sides since a week-long truce
01:31 in November.
01:33 About half of the 240 hostages taken by Hamas were released during that time.
01:39 Hamas has said it will not release any others until Israel ends the war.