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Limited humanitarian aid is expected to begin trickling into the Gaza Strip on Friday, according to White House officials.
US President Joe Biden on Wednesday said that Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi agreed to allow an initial group of 20 trucks to begin aid deliveries. The deal was announced as the US president wrapped up a short visit to Israel in a show of solidarity and a bid to defuse regional tensions.
Biden warned that “it will end” if Hamas confiscated the aid.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel “will not thwart” aid deliveries if they were limited to civilians in the south of the Gaza Strip, and did not end up in the hands of Hamas militants. Netanyahu’s office said the move was approved after a request from Biden.
The statement made did not mention fuel deliveries, which is badly needed for hospital power generators.
Gaza’s only connection to Egypt is the Rafah crossing which joins the far south of the Gaza Strip with Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.
Egypt has kept the border crossing closed after it was hit by Israeli bombardments, in response to the Hamas terror attack on October 7. The Gaza Strip has been sealed off for more than 10 days, after Hamas militants launched a terror attack into southern Israel.
More than 200 trucks with around 3,000 tons of aid are positioned near the Rafah crossing, according to the head of the Red Crescent for North Sinai, Khalid Zayed.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said the supplies would go in under the supervision of the UN.
In the days following the October 7 attack, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced a “complete siege” of Gaza.
No food, fuel or other supplies were allowed into the Palestinian territory, according to the measures, leaving the people of Gaza facing a humanitarian crisis.
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