1 of 2 trucks carrying humanitarian aid from Egyptian NGOs for the Palestinians wait for the reopening of the Rafah border crossing on the Egyptian side, October 17, 2023. Photo: Portal/Stringer Trucks carrying humanitarian aid from Egyptian NGOs for the Palestinians wait for the reopening of the Rafah border crossing on the Egyptian side, October 17, 2023. — Photo: Portal/Stringer
Initially, the Israeli government blocked the import of water, food, electricity and fuel into Gaza. However, appeals from the international community and, above all, a meeting with Joe Biden, the President of the United States, in Tel Aviv convinced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to authorize the dispatch of humanitarian aid to the area.
A spokesman for the Egyptian presidency said on Wednesday (19) that it was coordinating a path to ensure the arrival of aid, together with the Americans and international humanitarian organizations under the supervision of the United Nations.
In a statement, Netanyahu’s office said it would “not hinder” deliveries of food, water and medicine as long as the supplies do not reach Hamas. No mention was made of the fuel essential to running the local hospital generators.
“Fuel is also needed for hospital generators, ambulances and desalination plants and we urge Israel to add fuel to the vital supplies allowed to enter the Gaza Strip,” WHO DirectorGeneral Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a news conference.
CNN reported on Thursday evening (19) that the opening of the border crossing could be delayed. “I wouldn’t bet any money on the trucks coming through tomorrow,” said a source familiar with the discussions, explaining that the situation was “volatile.”
After the terrorist group Hamas’s massive attack on Israel on the 7th, which killed hundreds of people, the country imposed a total blockade of Palestinian territory, cutting off access to water, food, fuel and electricity. Since then, the situation for the more than 2.3 million Palestinians living in Gaza has rapidly deteriorated.
“International humanitarian law is very clear: you cannot starve an entire population. “You cannot use aid, food or water as an instrument of war for political or military purposes,” Marwan Jilani, director general of the Red Crescent Organization for Palestine (as the Red Cross is known in Islamic countries), told Al Jazeera.
For the United Nations (UN), the scenario is catastrophic: there has been no electricity since 9/11, food insecurity is only increasing and the health system is on the verge of collapse.
UN agencies have already warned that there is less than a week’s worth of food left in the territory and that Gaza’s water desalination plant has been shut down, raising the risk of further deaths from water shortages, dehydration and illness from consuming contaminated water.
What is the Rafah Pass?
2 of 2 Humanitarian Aid — Photo: g1 Humanitarian Aid — Photo: g1
The checkpoints, known as the Rafah border crossing, are the only place where crossing from Egypt to the Gaza Strip or vice versa is possible. They are located along the almost 13 kilometer long fence that separates the Palestinian territory from the Sinai Peninsula.
The crossing is the only one not controlled by Israel, but both the Israelis and Egyptians already had strong control of the site before the war. The territory was subjected to air, land and sea control for nearly 17 years, leaving the Gaza Strip virtually isolated from the rest of the world.
The total blockade in response to the Hamas attack made the situation worse. More than a million Palestinians have left their homes in northern Palestinian territory due to Israeli evacuation orders.
Rafah, a city on the southern border, has become the only hope for those trying to leave Gaza. Thousands of Palestinians and hundreds of foreigners, including Brazilians, are waiting there for rescue.
Early in the conflict, Israel bombed the checkpoints, making movement through Rafah difficult. Now the Egyptian government is carrying out road construction work to ensure the passage of trucks carrying aid supplies.
Israel attacks the only border crossing outside the Gaza Strip
Road repair machines were sent across the Rafah border to prepare for the crossing, security sources told Portal, Thursday (19).
According to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, at least 30 people were killed by shelling in several areas of the city of Rafah on Thursday (19), an indication of the difficulties and dangers of delivering aid to the region.
Egypt announces it will send humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip
Deliveries will be made at AlArish International Airport in Egypt, 44.5 kilometers from Rafah. From there the shipment must be transported overland to the post office on the border with the Gaza Strip.
After leaving the shipment in AlArish, the aircraft and the Brazilian crew took off for Cairo, where they awaited clearance to pick up the approximately 30 Brazilians in the Gaza Strip who had expressed a desire to return to Brazil.
Humanitarian aid is increasing
On the Egyptian side, a huge queue of more than 100 trucks is waiting to enter Gaza with 3,000 tons of aid.
“We have enough aid to last a long time,” an official from a humanitarian organization in Rafah told DW. “We have groceries, dairy products, vegetables, medicines.”
There is even more help at El Arish Airport on Egypt’s northeast coast, near the border crossing. According to The New York Times, the European Union (EU) chartered a cargo plane that arrived at the airport on Tuesday (17).