Sameh Shoukry, Egypt’s Foreign Minister, quickly responded, saying that the crossing was still closed because of Israel’s control over it and because its military operations were endangering truck drivers and aid workers. In a statement from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, Shoukry rejected what he described as “the policy of distorting the facts.”
Israeli officials rarely publicly criticize Egypt, with which Israel has a decades-old peace treaty and delicate security cooperation.
Defying international pressure, Israel launched a limited invasion of Rafah on May 6, seizing areas to the east. Even if the trucks were allowed to pass through the Rafah crossing, it was unclear whether they would be able to safely navigate through eastern Rafah, where Israeli forces have been fighting Hamas militants.
Israel recently opened two new routes for aid trucks to enter directly into northern Gaza.
“We are also seeing real progress in the north, where more are arriving,” Blinken said. “But what we don’t want to see is a situation where we basically reverse what happened in the last few months.”
The Rafah crossing is not the only aid choke point. Since the Israeli raid on Rafah, only a small number of trucks have managed to pass through Kerem Shalom, a nearby crossing between Israel and Gaza. Palestinian workers evacuated the crossing before the arrival of Israeli forces, according to Wael Abu Omar, a spokesman for the Palestinian side of the crossing.
Israel has asked the Palestinian Authority to send its employees to help manage the crossing, but not in their official capacity, said two Palestinian officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss messages exchanged between Israeli and Palestinian authorities.
Authority leaders quickly rejected the proposal, officials said.
Mahmoud al-Habbash, a religious affairs adviser to Mahmoud Abbas, the authority’s president, said Israel needed to withdraw from the crossing before Palestinian Authority employees took responsibility for operating it.
“How can we work with Israeli tanks there?” he asked her in an interview. “In terms of principle, that is unacceptable, not to mention the fact that it would be dangerous for the Palestinians.”
Al-Habbash said Palestinian leaders based in Ramallah would also need to be sure that the return of authority to the Rafah crossing was part of a broader effort to reintegrate the governing body into Gaza.
“We do not reject the measures that are being taken one after another, but it must be known that the Rafah crossing is part of Gaza, and a solution for the Rafah crossing is part of the solution for Gaza, and the solution for Gaza is part of the solution for all parts of the Palestinian State,” he said.
In public statements, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu all but ruled out a return of authority to Gaza, a prospect supported by the United States.
Aaron Boxerman contributed with reports.