Egypt opens Rafah crossing since the beginning of the Gaza conflict

Cairo (Uttam Hindu News): In response to US President Joe Biden’s statement, the Egyptian President has said that Egypt has opened the Rafah crossing for humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict. “Egypt has mobilized large-scale humanitarian aid and relief from within itself and from other countries,” the president said on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported. He said Israel’s bombing of the Palestinian side of the crossing four times disrupted the aid delivery process.

On Thursday, speaking to reporters, Biden said, “Initially President Sisi of Mexico did not want to open the crossing to allow humanitarian relief to come in.” He mistakenly referred to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as the Mexican leader.

“Egypt faces immense pressure and challenges to streamline and increase the flow of relief goods into Gaza,” the statement stressed. The statement said 80 percent of the aid provided to Gaza came from the Egyptian government, people and civil society.

The statement reiterated Egypt’s efforts to reach a ceasefire and protect civilians. It is noteworthy that after the Hamas attack on Southern Israel on October 7 last year, Israel is waging a military operation against Hamas in Gaza. The Israeli blockade and bombardment of Gaza has so far killed nearly 28,000 Palestinians, the Hamas-run health ministry said Friday.