Some 200 aid trucks from Egypt began entering the Gaza Strip on Sunday May 26 through the Israeli crossing point of Kerem Shalom (Kerem Abu Salem in Arabic), according to Al-Qahera News, a media outlet close to the Egyptian intelligence services.
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A total of “200 trucks” left the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing heading towards Kerem Shalom, some 4 km further south. They should enter the band of Gaza this Sunday, May 26. Al-Qahera News reports that “ four fuel trucks » had already crossed and were heading towards hospitals.
Israel, which carries out military operations in Rafah, took control of the border post in early May. From then on, the passage of humanitarian assistance is blocked, and tens of thousands of tons of aid are piled up on the Egyptian side while waiting to enter Gaza.
The tonnage transported by the trucks should be around five thousand tons, much more than everything the Americans were able to bring in through their floating dock, underlines our correspondent in Cairo, Alexandre Buccianti. The pace should increase to reach 400 trucks per day, if all goes well.
This aid entry is the result of the very insistent mediation of the American president Joe Biden. The Egyptians refused to send aid through the Rafah crossing point controlled by the Israelis who, for their part, closed the Kerem Shalom crossing point “ for security reasons “.
All help fromEgypt is inspected by Israeli authorities and distributed through the United Nations. The humanitarian situation remains alarming in the Palestinian territory, after more than seven months of a devastating war.
An agreement after a meeting in Paris
International efforts were revived to bring about a truce in the war. Israeli media report that David Barnea, the head of Mossad – the Israeli intelligence service – reached an agreement with CIA Director Bill Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdelrahmane Al-Thani duringa meeting in Paris on a new framework for the negotiations.
For his part, American President Joe Biden claimed to be “ engaged in emergency diplomacy » to try to secure a ceasefire and the release of the hostages.
Egypt says it is continuing “sefforts to reactivate negotiations », according to Al-Qahera News, while Qatari officials are expected to meet a Hamas delegation in the coming days, according to the American site Axios.
According to the Israeli army, 121 hostages are still being held in Gaza, of whom 37 are dead. On October 7, the attack on Israeli soil by Hamas members resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians. According to the Hamas Ministry of Health, nearly 36,000 people have died in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war.