Aid workers gather around lorries carrying humanitarian aid after they entered the Gaza Strip from Egypt via the Rafah border crossing on Oct 21, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP)

GAZA/RAFAH/TEHRAN/CAIRO/MOSCOW - Twenty trucks loaded with humanitarian aid entered Gaza on Saturday through the Rafah crossing, the only border crossing between the besieged coastal enclave and Egypt, after a two-week blockade.

The trucks were loaded with medical aid donated by Egypt's institutions of the National Alliance for Civil Development Work and the Egyptian Red Crescent, Aya Ahmed, public relations officer of Life Makers Foundation, told Xinhua.

"Such a limited convoy will not be able to change the humanitarian catastrophe that the Gaza Strip is experiencing," said Salama Maarouf, head of the Hamas-run government media office in Gaza, in a statement sent to Xinhua.

It is important to establish a safe corridor that works around the clock to provide humanitarian aid and allow the wounded to receive appropriate medical care that is lacking in Gaza, Maarouf said. 

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Earlier on Friday, the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) sent its first batch of humanitarian aid, containing medicine and hygiene products, for Gaza.

In a statement, the IRCS said the consignment, weighing close to 60 tonnes, was sent to Egypt to be transferred to Gaza through the Rafah border crossing "as soon as it opens."

United Nations vehicles and empty lorries (unseen) wait on the Palestinian side of the Gaza border at Rafah to collect humanitarian aid to be delivered from waiting lorries waiting on the Egyptian border Rafah crossing on Oct 21, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP)

Lavrov said he hopes that everyone comes to reason and sits down at the negotiating table, and added that it would then be necessary to coordinate all practical actions with the decisions of the UN Security Council, and also take into account the new realities, and how the situation has developed since 1967

On Thursday, the IRCS said it was consulting with the relevant international organizations, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, to set up three makeshift hospitals on Gaza's border.

Meanwhile, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday stressed the necessity of delivering humanitarian aid to the war-torn Gaza sustainably.

During a phone conversation, the two presidents rejected the forced displacement of Palestinians from their lands, emphasizing the importance of the solidarity of the international community to permanently end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, based on the two-state solution in accordance with the resolutions of international legitimacy.

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The Turkish president expressed his appreciation for Egypt's role in coordinating humanitarian efforts and promoting the path of peace.

In Russia, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday said that he hopes Israel and Palestine will soon be able to resume negotiations, according to the country's foreign ministry.

UNDP provided tens set up for Palestinians displaced by the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, are seen in Khan Younis, on Oct 19, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)

"I hope that everyone comes to reason and sits down at the negotiating table," Lavrov said, adding that it would then be necessary to coordinate all practical actions with the decisions of the UN Security Council, and also take into account the new realities, and how the situation has developed since 1967.

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Alexei Zaitsev, deputy director of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said during a weekly briefing on Friday that Russia was actively working to ensure the safe evacuation of Russian citizens from the conflict zone.

He added that Russia remained in contact with key regional actors to ensure the safe evacuation of citizens through humanitarian corridors, and on issues regarding the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday that work is currently being carried out to identify those Russian citizens who wish to leave the conflict zone.

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The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on Oct 7 launched a rare surprise attack on Israel, firing thousands of rockets and its militants bursting into Israeli border towns and communities. Israel responded with massive airstrikes on Gaza and punitive measures, including a siege on the enclave with supplies of water, electricity, fuel, and other necessities being cut off.

The ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, as it entered the 14th day, has killed more than 5,000 people on both sides and left many others in a dire humanitarian crisis.