Aid trucks from Egypt were expected to enter the hard-hit Gaza Strip on Sunday to reopen a vital humanitarian aid channel under a new U.S.-brokered deal.
Egypt has been blocking aid from entering the Gaza Strip through its territory since Israel seized the Rafah crossing to southern Gaza in early May. Despite the large amount of aid Egypt has received, the two sides have blamed each other for the closure of the crossing. Following pressure from the United States, Egypt announced on Friday that as a temporary measure it had agreed to reroute trucks through the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing, which is about two miles from the Rafah crossing.
About 200 trucks carrying Egyptian food and other aid will enter Gaza through Kerem Shalom on Sunday, according to Ahmad Ezzat, an Egyptian Red Crescent official. COGAT, the Israeli military agency that oversees Palestinian civilian affairs, was unavailable for comment.
The United Nations and aid groups have been warning of widespread famine in Gaza as the amount of food, water and medicine arriving there has dropped dramatically since the war began nearly eight months ago, and have urged Israel to open more corridors for aid to enter the country. Two main land routes Has been interrupted.
One of those crossings is Kerem Shalom, which is located at the border between Gaza, Israel and Egypt. A few weeks ago, Israel temporarily closed the crossing after a Hamas rocket attack on Kerem Shalom killed four soldiers. Since then, Israel has allowed Sending some aid to Gaza through Kerem Shalombut the distribution of aid has been controversial. Israel says aid agencies must distribute the aid. But the agencies say the Israeli military’s activities in southern Gaza make their work almost impossible.
Another major aid crossing is at Rafah, between Gaza and Egypt. Israeli forces seized the crossing on the night of May 6 as the first step in their advance toward the city. Since then, Israeli, Egyptian and Palestinian officials have been unable to reach an agreement to resume aid deliveries there.
The Egyptian government also initially refused to send aid trucks to Kerem Shalom after the Rafah crossing was closed, a move that U.S. and Israeli officials said was intended to pressure Israel to abandon its operations in Rafah.
On Friday, Egypt and the United States announced Cairo has tentatively agreed Allowing food, basic supplies and fuel to be transported from its territory to Gaza through Kerem Shalom. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi stressed that the measure was only a stopgap measure until a “new legal mechanism” is found on the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing.
It is unclear when the Rafah crossing will reopen to deliver aid. According to the White House, U.S. officials are expected to travel to Cairo this week to “support efforts to reopen the Rafah crossing.”
