US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sissi had agreed to allow “up to 20 trucks to cross the border” to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.
“Like Hamas [os capturar] or don’t let them pass (…) then everything will be over,” the North American head of state warned during statements to journalists on board the presidential plane, which stopped in Germany after Biden’s visit to Israel.
Joe Biden made the announcement after a phone call with Al-Sissi, assuring that the Egyptian is “fully cooperating” and that he “deserves great recognition” for his action.
Israel isolated the Gaza Strip and prevented all food, water, medicine and fuel from entering its 2.3 million residents after the attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on October 7.
White House officials told the Associated Press (AP) that the help will follow in the coming days.
Earlier, Israel had assured that it would allow Egypt to deliver limited amounts of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, the first concession in a 10-day siege of the territory.
In a statement, Israel’s executive branch said it “will not hinder” the delivery of food, water and medicine as long as these goods do not reach the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.
The UN responsible for humanitarian emergencies today defended that aid to Gaza, once it can cross the Egyptian border, must be “substantial”, on the order of 100 trucks per day, and that its security must be taken care of.
Martin Griffiths referred to “incredibly detailed negotiations with the parties” to define the rules for access and distribution of humanitarian aid, shortly after Israel authorized the entry of aid.
“We must ensure that we can intervene at scale every day, in a deliberate, repetitive and reliable way,” Griffiths stressed, explaining that the various UN staff in the Gaza Strip – including 14,000 UN workers for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) will then try to distribute the aid.
Israel has been bombing Gaza mercilessly since Hamas’ bloody surprise attack on October 7, which killed 1,400 people in Israel, most of them civilians.
The Israeli response caused at least 3,478 deaths in the overpopulated Palestinian area, most of them civilians, according to local authorities.
Source: DN
