Egypt has agreed to allow fuel and humanitarian aid to reach Gaza from its territory through Israel, the White House and the Egyptian presidency announced on Friday, reopening a vital channel for aid to the devastated Palestinian enclave.
The agreement was reached during a phone call on Friday between President Biden and Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the Egyptian president, according to the White House readout of the call, which said fuel and humanitarian aid could enter Gaza at through an Israeli route. -operated crossing, Kerem Shalom, which is located at the junction of Egypt, Gaza and Israel.
For months, Kerem Shalom was one of two main land crossings into Gaza through which desperately needed food, medicine and fuel could enter the enclave. The other, between Egypt in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, has also been the main route for sick and injured Gazans to flee the war.
In early May, after Israeli troops seized the Rafah crossing as part of a long-awaited advance toward the city, the border crossing was closed. While Israel also opened crossings into northern Gaza, the closure of Rafah limited the amount of international aid that could reach the enclave. Israel and Egypt exchanged blame for the robbery.
In the weeks before Israel seized the Rafah crossing, widespread hunger had begun to ease in parts of Gaza amid a surge in aid, according to residents of the enclave. But after the attack, more than 800,000 people fled Rafah, and getting aid to Gaza (and from there to those who need it) became even more difficult.
When the Rafah crossing was closed, the Egyptian government initially resisted sending aid trucks toward Kerem Shalom, in what U.S. and Israeli officials called an attempt to pressure Israel to back off its Rafah operation.
El-Sisi’s office said the decision was a “temporary measure” until “a new legal measure to resume operations at the Rafah crossing” was established. In the White House readout, President Biden said he was committed to reopening the crossing “with arrangements acceptable to both Egypt and Israel” and planned to send a high-level team to Cairo next week for further talks.
