Egyptian volunteers gather and celebrate with a Palestinian flag next to trucks carrying humanitarian aid from Egyptian NGOs driving through the Rafah crossing from the Egyptian side. /Stringer/Reuters
Trucks loaded with humanitarian aid have begun entering the Rafah crossing on route to the Gaza Strip, footage from local Egyptian state TV showed. The aid has been stuck on the Egyptian side of the crossing for several days, waiting to enter the coastal region that has been under attack since October 7.
On Saturday, the World Health Organization said that four trucks carrying health supplies had started to move towards the Rafah crossing. Supplies include trauma medicines and supplies for 1,200 people and 235 portable trauma bags for on-the-spot stabilization of injured patients.
European Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen has been among the leaders to welcome the opening of the border crossing, saying "I welcome the opening of the Rafah border crossing point to Gaza for humanitarian aid. This is an important first step that will alleviate the suffering of innocent people."
Hamas releases two U.S hostages
Hamas has released two U.S hostages, a mother and daughter, who were kidnapped in its attack on southern Isreal on October 7, the office for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced.
Judith Tai Raanan, 59, and her daughter Natalie, 17, who were taken from Nahal Oz kibbutz, were reunited with family inside Israel on Friday.
Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for Hamas's armed wing, said the hostages were released in response to Qatari mediation efforts, "for humanitarian reasons, and to prove to the American people and the world that the claims made by Biden and his fascist administration are false and baseless."
They were the first hostages confirmed by both sides in the conflict to be freed since Hamas gunmen burst into Israel, killing at least 1,400 people, mainly civilians, and taking around 200 hostages.
The teenager's father Uri Raanan – in Bannockburn, Illinois, outside Chicago – said he spoke with his daughter by phone. "She sounds very, very good, very happy – and she looks good."
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Natalie Raanan's uncle, Avraham Zamir, said the family was joyful the pair had been safely released. "But there are still many families whose loved ones are still being held hostage, and we will continue our efforts for their release," he said from his home in Illinois.
President Joe Biden in a statement thanked Qatar and Israel for their partnership in securing the pair's release.
A Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson said the release of the hostages took place "after many days of continuous communication" and said dialogue on the release of hostages would continue.
Judith Tai Raanan, 59, and her daughter Natalie, 17, have been released by Hamas. /Government of Israel/Handout/Reuters
Egypt hosts international peace summit
Egypt has opened an international summit in Cairo on Saturday being attended by several Arab and European heads of state and government, alongside foreign ministers.
The summit is being held to discuss the escalating conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, but leaders are expected to struggle to agree a common position.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordanian King Abdullah are all among those in attendance at the summit. UN chief Antonio Guterres, European Council President Charles Michel and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell are also expected to attend.
But the absence of a top official from Israel's main ally the United States and some other major Western leaders has cooled expectations for what the event can achieve. The U.S., which has no ambassador currently assigned to Egypt, is represented by its embassy Charge d'Affaires.
A view of residential buildings destroyed in Israeli strikes in Zahra City, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. /Shadi Tabatibi/Reuters
Israel continues Gaza attack
Israel continued its bombardment of targets throughout Gaza overnight on Saturday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to "fight until victory."
After Netanyahu signaled no pause in Israel's aerial onslaught and expected ground attack, its military said fighter jets had struck a "large number of Hamas terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip" including command centers and combat positions inside multi-story buildings.
Palestinian media said Israeli aircraft had struck six homes in the north of Gaza, a coastal enclave that is one of the world's most densely populated places, killing at least 19 people and injuring dozens.
The Israeli military reported a fresh salvo of rockets from Gaza against southern Israeli border communities before dawn, then a lull until sirens sounded in the port city of Ashdod some 40 kilometers north of the Palestinian enclave.
There was no immediate word of casualties in either incident.
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