Egypt Agrees To Reopen Border Crossing With Gaza To Allow Aid Reach Palestine, Says US

Egypt has agreed to reopen border crossing with the Gaza Strip, said US President Joe Biden.

Aid convoy trucks are seen at Rafah border on October 17, 2023 in North Sinai, Egypt.

Source : Getty Images

The United States has said that it has reached a deal with Egypt on reopening the border crossing with the Gaza Strip to allow humanitarian aid reach Palestine. The announcement came after US President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel where he met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

The Israeli government pledged not to prevent humanitarian aid from entering the bombarded enclave via Egypt, as per Al Jazeera. 

The deal — wherein 20 aid trucks will be allowed into Gaza — was reached after Biden had a call with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi following the trip, said the White House. 

The Egyptian President had previously denied that the Rafah Border — the only crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip — was closed by them and instead said, “repeated bombings by Israel of the Palestinian side of the crossing have prevented operations”.

Biden praised Egypt for its move telling reporters that “[el-]Sisi deserves some real credit because he was accommodating” as per the Al Jazeera report. 

Israel had shut off all supplies to Gaza after the Palestinian group launched surprise attacks on Israel on October 7. With supplies running out, many families in Gaza have cut down to one meal a day and have been left to drink dirty water.

The announcement to allow water, food, and other supplies into Gaza came amid a fury over the attack on Gaza’s al-Ahli Hospital killing over 500 people. 

There were conflicting claims on who was behind the hospital attacks that took place on Tuesday night as Hamas officials blamed an Israeli airstrike while Tel Aviv denied its involvement in the and released a flurry of video, audio and other information claiming that the blast occurred due to a rocket misfire by Islamic Jihad, another militant group operating in Gaza. Islamic Jihad dismissed that claim.

Russia To Send 27 Tonnes Of Humanitarian Aid

Russia's foreign ministry on Thursday said it was delivering 27 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Gaza Strip after Egypt agreed to reopen Rafah crossing. An aircraft carrying the goods is on its way to El Arish, an Egyptian city in northern Sinai about 50km (31 miles) from the Egypt-Gaza Rafah crossing, said the ministry.