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Ammon News - The UN children's agency UNICEF says it managed to drive enough water supplies for 22,000 people for one day through the Rafah crossing into Gaza on Saturday.

"Over 44,000 bottles of drinking water supplied by UNICEF – just enough for 22,000 people for 1 day – were driven through the Rafah Crossing today as part of a 20-truck convoy with the Egyptian Red Crescent, the World Health Organization and the World Food Programme," the UNICEF statement said.

The delivery of water is a "matter of life and death" for the 1 million children in Gaza "facing a critical protection and humanitarian crisis,"according to UNICEF's Executive Director Catherine Russell.

"This first, limited water will save lives, but the needs are immediate and immense – not just for water, but for food, fuel, medicine, and essential goods and services. Unless we can provide humanitarian supplies consistently, we face the real threat of life-threatening disease outbreaks," Russell added.

The nearly two-week-long conflict has wrought severe damage on Gaza's water and sanitation systems with water production capacity currently at 5% of normal levels, UNICEF said.

"The nearly 2.3 million residents in Gaza are now surviving on 3 litres of water per person per day," UNICEF added.

The agency issued an urgent call for all access crossings into Gaza to be opened to allow the wider delivery of humanitarian aid alongside the movement of aid workers and urgent medical cases in Gaza who require critical medical care.

CNN