Aid to Gaza delayed; Israel-Hamas armed conflict death toll surpasses 5,000

가자 구호 통로 라파 개방 21일 개방 전망 사망자 5천명 넘어서 Good evening. Thank you for joining us. I’m Yoon Jung-min. We begin with ongoing humanitarian suffering in Gaza as opening of the Rafah border, --the only route for aid to enter that isolated area --, now seems to have been delayed. Meanwhile, conflict in the Middle East shows little sign of abating. The Pentagon says a U.S. Navy warship intercepted missiles heading from Yemen, potentially toward Israel. Shin Ha-young starts us off. Trucks carrying aid, including food and medical supplies, have lined up, waiting for the Rafah border crossing – currently the only route for aid to enter Gaza from outside of Israel --to open from the Egyptian side. “We are staying here for Palestinians, we will not leave until the aid enters Palestine, to Gaza, to our Palestinian brothers.“ Initially, it was expected to be open at some point on Friday, but this now seems uncertain. CNN reports that it is not expected to open on Friday, due to a day-long delay in road repairs to the crossing at Rafah and making sure the deliveries can be sustained. It added, citing U.S. officials, that there are expectations that the first convoy of aid will arrive this weekend, possibly by Saturday. More than 150 trucks with food, water, and fuel are waiting at the border crossing. Meanwhile, fears grow that the fighting between Israel and Hamas could escalate into a wider geopolitical conflict. The Pentagon said on Thursday local time that a U.S. Navy Ship in the Red Sea shot down three land-attack cruise missiles as well as several drones that had been launched from Yemen. According to the Pentagon spokesperson, the missiles and drones were fired by Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen “potentially towards targets“ in Israel. “Information about these engagements is still being processed, and we cannot say for certain what these missiles and drones were targeting, but they were launched from Yemen heading north along the Red Sea, potentially towards targets in Israel.“ Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant alluded to a ground assault in the near future. He told troops gathered at the Gaza border on Thursday that while they are now looking at Gaza from afar, an order will soon come that will allow them to see the Palestinian enclave from the “inside.“ Since the Hamas militant attack on Israel on October 7th, the number of deaths has reportedly surpassed over 5-thousand. The Gaza Health Ministry reported that Israel’s retaliation to the Hamas attack has left at least 3-thousand-785 Palestinians dead, while the UN Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs said the death toll in Israel as of Thursday stood at 1-thousand-400. With this, many nations and international organizations are calling for a ceasefire to prevent the humanitarian crisis from further escalating. Shin Ha-young, Arirang News. #Israel #Hamas #Gaza #War #Conflict #이스라엘 #하마스 #가자지구 #Arirang_News #아리랑뉴스 📣 Facebook : 📣 Twitter : 📣 Homepage : 2023-10-20, 18:00 (KST)