Humanitarian aid cannot reach the Gaza Strip before Friday
US President Joe Biden and Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al Sisi agreed on Wednesday, at the end of the US leader’s lightning visit to Israel, to enter the Gaza Strip with “up to 20 trucks” of humanitarian aid to address the situation of residents to relieve the streaks. The supplies, which include water, food and medicine, not the fuel that hospitals need to operate, will begin arriving Friday, according to U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesman John Kirby. He explained that the roads had been damaged by the bombings. And Biden set conditions: “If Hamas confiscates it or doesn’t let it pass, it’s over.”
The passage of aid through the Rafah border crossing, the only one not controlled by Israel – it is on the border with Egypt – was agreed between Biden and Sisi in a telephone conversation on Wednesday, while the American was in Washington after a short visit flew back to Israel, which was overshadowed by Tuesday night’s attack on Al-Ahli Hospital in the Gaza Strip, in which 471 people died, according to Gaza authorities. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to the deal at Biden’s urging.
Initially, 20 trucks are allowed to enter, but they are not allowed to enter Palestinian territory because the road into the interior was damaged by Israeli bombing. Egypt is trying to repair this damage, which is why vehicles will not be able to enter until Friday. According to the head of the Red Crescent in northern Sinai, Khalid Zayed, up to 200 trucks carrying 3,000 tons of supplies are parked near the border crossing and waiting to enter.
According to Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukry, the deliveries are being checked by UN representatives. The agreement says nothing about foreigners and Palestinians with dual nationality gathering near the Rafah border crossing to flee Israeli bombings. When asked whether the agreement called for the withdrawal of people, Biden simply said: “We will get people out, but I won’t go into the details right now.”