Witnesses have told media that convoys of humanitarian aid have amassed near Egypt’s border with the Gaza Strip on Sunday, unable to access the Palestinian enclave, which is currently under bombardment by Israel.
The Rafah crossing, which is the sole entry and exit point for the Gaza Strip that is not under Israeli control, has been shuttered since Tuesday, following three Israeli airstrikes on the Palestinian border post within a 24-hour span.
An American official confirmed to media on Saturday that Egypt and Israel had reached an agreement to permit American citizens to depart from Gaza through the Rafah crossing.
However, Egypt has imposed conditions on the deal.
According to the Egyptian news channel Al-Qahera News, which has connections to Egyptian intelligence agencies, officials declined to designate the crossing solely for the use of foreigners.
“The Egyptian stance is clear, which requires the aid to arrive in Gaza,” the report stated, as concerns mount regarding shortages of crucial supplies in the besieged region.
Witnesses observed on Sunday that the concrete barriers installed by the Egyptians to reinforce the border after Israel’s airstrikes remained in position, indicating that no immediate opening of passage was being contemplated.
Aid shipments from Jordan, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates had already reached El Arish airport, situated 50 kilometers (31 miles) west of Rafah. Additionally, the World Health Organization provided sufficient medical supplies to cater to the requirements of 300,000 individuals.
Egypt has also dispatched a convoy of 100 transport trucks, transporting 1,000 tonnes of aid.
Israel, which oversees the other two entry points into Gaza, has imposed a “complete siege” on the Palestinian coastal enclave, severing access to essential provisions such as food, water, fuel, and electricity for the territory’s 2.4 million inhabitants.
Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz stated on Friday, “Humanitarian aid to Gaza? No electric switch will be turned on, no water tap will be opened and no fuel truck will enter until the Israeli abductees are returned home”.
Gaza has been subjected to a collective Israeli-Egyptian blockade since Hamas assumed control in 2007.
In 2008, a multitude of Palestinians, escaping Israeli airstrikes, forcefully breached the Egyptian border using bulldozers.
On Friday, Israel instructed the civilian inhabitants of the northern Gaza Strip, comprising approximately 1.1 million people, to relocate to the south, in preparation for an anticipated ground invasion in response to Hamas’s attack on southern Israel on October 7.