First of the aid lorries enter Gaza through Egypt's Rafah crossing

The shipments begin moving as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsens

Lorries carrying aid arrive at the Palestinian side of the border with Egypt at Rafah. Reuters

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Lorries laden with aid supplies entered the Palestinian territories from Egypt's Rafah border crossing, the first such delivery since Israeli air strikes on Gaza began on October 7.

The lorries will offload their cargo onto Palestinian lorries, Egyptian television showed.

The delivery of aid to Gaza, battered by relentless Israeli bombardment, will ease the blockade enforced by Israel in the wake of Hamas's surprise attack on October 7 that killed 1,400 people, including women and children.

The launch of the aid operation ends more than a week-long wait by some 200 lorries on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing in the Sinai Peninsula.

An estimated 20 lorries were involved in Friday's operation.

The Israeli blockade denied Gaza's Palestinians water, fuel and electricity as its military killed more than 4,000 Palestinians and displaced one million.

Egyptian volunteers at the Egyptian side of the border crossing waved the lorries off, chanting pro-Palestinian slogans and waving Egyptian and Palestinian flags. The volunteers later offered a prayer of thanks.