The UN says that time is running out to get aid into the "Gaza Hellhole"!

 Egyptian diggers are trying to repair the bomb-damaged Rafah crossing into Gaza as relief organisations hope 20 aid lorries could go in, possibly today

Gaza is still under siege with Israel blocking supplies of water, electricity, food and fuel across its border

The territory is now a "hellhole" and time is running out to get aid to desperate civilians, says the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees

UK PM Rishi Sunak is attending talks in Egypt as fears grow that the conflict could spread

Palestinian officials say more than 3,700 people have been killed in Gaza since Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October and killed more than 1,400 people

The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem says an explosion at an ancient church in Gaza on Thursday is a "war crime"

In a televised speech earlier, US President Joe Biden said he would ask Congress for billions of dollars in military funding for Israel and Ukraine

He also urged Israeli leaders to avoid being "blinded by rage" as they plan a ground offensive in Gaza.

UN chief says trucks of aid are the difference between life and death

Antonio Guterres is now speaking to reporters in Egypt, where he is calling for trucks carrying aid to be allowed into Gaza.

He says he has seen "so many trucks loaded with water, with fuel, with medicines, food", adding that these trucks would be a "lifeline" and the "difference between life and death for so many people in Gaza".

Threat of radicalisation grows

There is an ominous sense of 2003 about the Middle East right now. Just as back then, Al-Qaida and violent Islamist extremism had been on the wane.

But then, the US-led invasion of Iraq reinvigorated the jihadists, leading eventually to the rise of Islamic State.

Today analysts are warning that the soaring number of civilian casualties caused by Israeli airstrikes on Gaza are so enraging populations in the region that something similar could recur.

So while Rishi Sunak and other Western leaders search for ways to avoid the situation escalating out of control, there are multiple risks emerging.

One is that Hezbollah, the powerful Iranian-backed militia in Lebanon, feels compelled to join in the fight against Israel.

Another is that angry street protesters turn against their own governments, many of whom are Western allies.

And a third is that what is happening in Gaza so radicalises some individuals, including in Europe, that they turn to terrorism.

FULL ARTICLE AT: Israel Gaza live news: UN: Time running out to get aid into Gaza 'hellhole' - BBC News