2023-10-21 15:14:44
The authorities that manage the Rafah border crossing, which connects the northern Egyptian Sinai with the Gaza Strip, closed the crossing on both sides this Saturday after unloading the 20 trucks of humanitarian aid agreed upon in this first mission and it is unknown when they will return. open it, humanitarian sources told EFE.
The president of the North Sinai Red Crescent, Khaled Said, told EFE that “The crossing is closed on both sides, both on the Egyptian and Palestinian sides, after the 20 trucks that entered (the Strip) through the Rafah crossing unloaded their cargo and returned to Egyptian lands.“.
Said stressed that the supplies delivered to the Palestinian side of Rafah are “medical help only”that none of the shipments included fuel and that it is unknown when a new aid delivery will be made to the Palestinian enclave and how many trucks will be able to enter.
He briefly indicated that “There is no information about the departure of foreign citizens in Gaza” and highlighted that “nothing is known yet” about when and how it could be carried out.
As EFE was able to verify on the Palestinian side of Rafah, the crossing was closed after the entry of the aid and the departure of the trucks that transported it.
Before the entry of the assistance, between 300 and 400 foreigners had gathered near the crossing, most of them Americans and among them Palestinians with passports from other countries, given the possibility that they could leave the Strip towards Egypt.
However, after the trucks left and the crossing closed, many of them chose to stop waiting and leave the crossing, although there are still about 150 who are waiting with hope to be able to leave for Egyptian soil at some point.
The Egyptian Red Crescent announced in a statement that it brought humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip today to deliver to the Palestinian Red Crescent, “loaded into a group of trucks as a second batch”, since the first batch was delivered on October 9, before the total blockade of the Strip ordered by the Israeli Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, became effective.
“The aid was prepared with basic medical and relief needs and based on the needs of the Palestinian Red Crescent,” The note stressed, which detailed that the device has been coordinated with state agencies to facilitate the passage of trucks from the Rafah crossing.
The deputy director of the OCHA Office in the Palestinian territories, Andrea De Domenico, admitted to EFE that this aid will not be enough for the Palestinians who are in Gaza, where 2.3 million people live, of which 1.4 million, according to OCHA, They are internally displaced by Israel’s bombings in the northern part of the Strip.
De Domenico indicated that there are “negotiations” between the parties concerned so that the delivery of aid is “sustainable” over time.
From the Egyptian part of Rafah, volunteers told EFE that no ambulances or fuel trucks have entered and that the aid is provided by the Egyptian Red Crescent and NGOs that are part of the government coalition National Alliance for Civil Development.
Currently, the New Administrative Capital of Cairo hosts the Peace Summit, which brings together 54 international leaders to address the conflict, and in which the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, said that the Gaza Strip requires “continuous delivery of aid at the scale needed.”
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