Aid workers are "prioritizing the most vulnerable communities" with relief trucks entering Gaza during the truce – but "it is not enough" says the International Red Cross.

For many of the 2.3 million people who live in the tiny Gaza Strip, the four-day pause in the near-constant air and artillery strikes has offered a first chance to safely move around, take stock of the devastation and seek access to aid imports. 

More than 50 trucks carrying food, water, shelter equipment, and medical supplies, have been deployed to the northern Gaza Strip and to shelters in non-evacuated areas of the Palestinian enclave, Israel said. This was the first time since the start of the war that a significant amount of aid was deployed to northern Gaza, according to the Israeli Defence Ministry agency that coordinates with the Palestinians.

Tommaso Della Longa, International Federation of Red Cross spokesman, tiold CGTN that the aid coming in was a "first step." 

"Of course, we cannot underestimate the positive news that hundreds of trucks are entering… almost 60 trucks are going to the north for the first time in the last weeks, and they are in this convoy of our colleagues of the Palestine Red Crescent," he said.

"Now, if the question is, 'Is this enough?' No, it is not enough. And if it's 'This will give the proper and dignified answer to the needs of the Palestinians.' No. But then again, it's a first step. And we do hope that these will continue next coming days."

Della Longa said that aid workers have been working on which parts of Gaza need the relief most.

"Our colleagues of Palestine Red Crescent told us since day one, that they were facing some impossible dilemmas when treating patients in the hospital, for instance, or in the emergency room, when you don't have medicines, when you don't have medical equipment," he said.

READ MORE

What we know about the Israel-Hamas truce deal

German police raid pro-Palestinian and far right properties

Sweden threatens to deport law-breaking immigrants

"And of course, you have to make some choices that a doctor or a nurse should never face. Now, the reality is that there are some assessments already done by UN colleagues and, of course, the Palestine Red Crescent colleagues, so we are prioritizing the most vulnerable communities – shelter the displaced. But again, their needs are so immense that four days of some hundreds of trucks will not be the proper transport for millions of people."

‌Logisitics are also a problem now, both in terms of the road structure with all the bombing and finding out how badly affected are different areas.

"I would say that in the south, I would say that we have a very good picture because we had access. The real issue is the north. So with this convoy today, I'm sure that we'll get some more information on the needs on the ground and what exactly happened," said Della Longa. 

"And also in terms of logistics ... the roads, for instance, bridges, how to move around, where to go, where also to think about distribution points of relief items and food and water... So I think that the real game changer in these days is the access to the north. And again, we do hope that we'll continue having this safe access everywhere in Gaza because this was the problem since day one: without safety, it's almost impossible to carry on a humanitarian operation."

Subscribe to Storyboard: A weekly newsletter bringing you the best of CGTN every Friday