Egypt announced this Thursday the agreement for a “durable passage” of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip through the Rafah point, at a time when hundreds of trucks with aid are parked at the gates of the enclave.
“Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi and US President Joe Biden agreed to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing on a lasting basis,” presidential spokesman Ahmed Fahmy said in a statement, without specify a specific date.
The delivery of aid will be supervised by the UN, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry revealed to Al-Arabiya broadcaster.
When asked if foreigners and people with dual nationality wishing to leave would be allowed passage, the minister responded: “As long as the crossing operates normally and the facilities [da passagem] have been repaired.”
Egypt has yet to repair the road across the border, which was left full of potholes due to Israeli airstrikes, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
More than 200 trucks and around 3,000 tons of aid are parked at or near the Rafah crossing, which is the only connection between Gaza and Egypt, said the leader of the Red Crescent for North Sinai, Khalid Zayed.
Joe Biden had previously announced that Al-Sissi had agreed to “let up to 20 trucks cross” the border to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza.
“If Hamas [os capturar] or not let them pass (…) then everything will be over,” warned the North American head of state.
Biden made the announcement after a telephone conversation with Al-Sissi and assured that the Egyptian was “fully cooperative” and that he “deserves a lot of recognition” for his action.
Israel isolated the Gaza Strip, preventing all food, water, medicine and fuel from entering its 2.3 million inhabitants after the attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on October 7.
White House officials told the Associated Press (AP) that the aid will arrive in the coming days.
Previously, Israel had guaranteed 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, as long as these goods do not reach the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.
The head of humanitarian emergencies of the UN maintained this Wednesday that aid to Gaza, as soon as it can cross the Egyptian border, must be “substantial”, on the order of 100 trucks per day, and its security must be taken care of.
Israel has been relentlessly bombing Gaza since the bloody Hamas surprise attack on October 7 that killed 1,400 people in Israel, most of them civilians.
The Israeli response caused at least 3,478 deaths in the overcrowded Palestinian territory, most of them civilians, according to local authorities.
Source: TSF
