By Janet Ekstract ISTANBUL -In a new agreement with Egypt, aid trucks entered Gaza from Southern Israel on Sunday to bypass the Rafah crossing since Israel’s military took over control of the Palestinian side, earlier in the month. Egypt has refused to reopen its side of the Rafah crossing until control of the Gaza side is given back to the Palestinians but did agree to temporarily divert aid through Israel’s Kerem Shalom crossing. The Kerem Shalom crossing is Gaza’s main cargo terminal and the agreement came at the behest of U.S. President Joe Biden after he spoke with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi. At issue, is the fact that this crossing has been primarily inaccessible due to combat in the area, related to Israel’s offensive in Rafah. Israel claims to have allowed hundreds of aid trucks to enter but U.N. agencies reported that attempting to retrieve the aid on the other side is just too dangerous.
Humanitarian aid agency officials, aid workers and the head of the United Nations Refugee and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza, Philippe Lazzarini, in previous months, accused the Israeli military of deliberately firing on aid workers and aid convoys. The International Community and the U.S. had expressed outrage when the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) repeatedly attacked a U.S. food aid organization convoy, World Central Kitchen (WCK), killing seven of its employees with Israel calling the attack, “a mistake.” For months, top U.N. officials including the Executive Director of the World Food Program (WFP) Cindy McCain told the U.S. press that no aid was allowed into Gaza since January 23. She said northern Gaza is seeing widespread famine and that it was up to Israel to allow the aid in which she said a month ago, was being blocked. Meanwhile, Egypt’s state-run Al-Qahera TV showed footage of trucks entering Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing. Egypt’s head of Red Crescent in the Sinai Peninsula Khaled Zayed told The Associated Press that 200 aid trucks and four fuel trucks are scheduled to be sent to Kerem Shalom on Sunday. Southern Gaza has mostly been cut off from receiving aid since Israel launched what it claims is a “limited incursion” into Rafah which began on May 6. Northern Gaza has been isolated by Israeli troops for months an is reportedly receiving aid through two land routes that Israel opened only after global outrage at the WFP killings. The floating pier that the U.S. built to assist with humanitarian aid still remains far below its capacity of 150 trucks daily. Aid groups report the enclave needs at least 600 trucks a day to meet the burgeoning humanitarian needs to alleviate the food crisis there.
Photo : AA
