UN calls for immediate ceasefire
Egypt opens border for humanitarian aid on Friday
October 19, 2023, 6:57 p.m
Truckloads of relief supplies have been waiting at the Egyptian border with the Gaza Strip for days. However, they don’t get there. On the other hand, hundreds of thousands of refugees urgently need everything they can get. A recent announcement is a first glimmer of hope.
According to Egyptian television reports, the border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip will be opened on Friday for aid deliveries to the sealed-off Palestinian territory. This was reported by the state-affiliated TV channel Al Kahera News, citing unnamed sources. Meanwhile, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, expressed “worry” about whether this will actually happen given the long wait for the Rafah border crossing to open.
The Rafah crossing is the only non-Israeli-controlled entrance to the Gaza Strip. Hundreds of vans with deliveries are currently waiting on the Egyptian side of the border crossing.
Six days ago, relief supplies reached the Egyptian border area, WHO chief Ghebreyesus told journalists in Geneva. Since then, we have been waiting for access to open. “We hope there will be a crossing tomorrow,” he continued. “But based on the experiences of the last few days, we are also worried about whether it will happen.”
Biden mediates, Israel agrees
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. “The Gaza Strip needs extensive and lasting help,” said Guterres at a joint press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri in Cairo.
US President Joe Biden said he had received a promise from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi that “up to 20 trucks” would initially be allowed to pass through the Rafah border crossing. Israel had previously agreed to the deliveries at Biden’s request.
WHO Emergency Director Michael Ryan said in Geneva that humanitarian aid must be delivered to the Gaza Strip “every day.” “We need to make sure the corridor is a corridor,” he said. Humanitarian aid “has to flow every day,” Ryan continued. “20 trucks are currently a drop in the ocean of need” in the Gaza Strip.