Egypt to increase volume of fuel sent to besieged Gaza: official

CAIRO, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Egypt will increase the volume of fuel sent daily to the Gaza Strip from 129,000 to 189,000 liters as agreed with the Israeli side, said the chairman of Egypt's State Information Service on Wednesday.

Diaa Rashwan said in a statement that since Oct. 21, 4,057 humanitarian aid trucks have been sent from Egypt to the besieged Palestinian enclave via the Rafah border crossing.

This includes 3,866 tons of medical supplies, 22,799 tons of food, 13,936 tons of water, 5,073 tons of other relief materials, 2,678 tons of fuel, besides 48 ambulances and 222 tents and pieces of tarpaulins.

"Egypt is continuing its intense efforts to ensure the constant entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza," the Egyptian official said.

The Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza has been the only lifeline to provide the enclave with relief supplies, donated by Egypt and other countries as well as local and international organizations.

Gaza has been under massive Israeli siege and bombardment since Oct. 7, which has killed so far over 18,600 Palestinians and wounded 50,594 others, Gaza's Health Ministry stated on Wednesday.

The Israeli escalation came in retaliation for an attack by the Gaza-ruling Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) that killed about 1,200 in Israel, with Hamas taking more than 200 as hostages, according to Israeli reports.

Egypt has worked with Qatar and the United States to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that lasted for one week, from Nov. 24 to Nov. 30, during which the two sides swapped detainees. Fighting resumed shortly after the collapse of the truce.