2023-10-21 10:24:00
Twenty trucks from the Egyptian Red Crescent, which is responsible for delivering aid from various UN agencies, entered the Egyptian terminal, noted an AFP correspondent on site. On the Palestinian terminal side, an AFP journalist saw 36 empty semi-trailers entering the terminal towards Egypt, in preparation for loading the help. Four ambulances, two UN vehicles and two Red Cross vehicles were also visible on the Palestinian side.
©REUTERS
Egyptian state television showed several trucks cross the huge gate of the border post on the 15th day of war between Israel and Hamas, in power in Gaza, while tons of aid have been piling up for days waiting for passage to the 2.4 million Gazans, half of them children , without water, electricity or fuel.
American President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he had obtained from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi a guarantee of “allow up to 20 trucks to cross“, a totally insufficient number according to the UN which estimates the needs of Gazans at at least 100 trucks per day. Before the war, 60% of them were already dependent on international food aid.
On Friday, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called from Rafah in Egypt, the only opening on Gaza that is not in the hands of Israel, to the “rapid passage” of humanitarian aid to the besieged Palestinian territory.
Israel categorically refuses to open its border crossings with Gaza but the United States managed to convince the authorities to give the green light to sending aid from Egypt, via Rafah. Israel clarified that it would ensure that aid did not reach Hamas but only to “civilians” in the “south of the Gaza Strip”.
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