Aid once again enters Gaza from Egypt following temporary agreement with US

Humanitarian aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip from Egypt for the first time in three weeks on Sunday through the Karam Abu Salem crossing.

Egyptian media reported that 200 trucks, including food aid and four trucks loaded with fuel, entered the strip today through the crossing. Until this morning, no UN-provided aid trucks had entered the Gaza Strip since May 6, Communications Director at the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees  (UNRWA) Juliette Touma told Mada Masr.

Aid entry into Gaza from Egypt was halted when the Occupation military began its operation in Rafah in early May, seizing the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing and Gaza’s border area with Egypt in the process. Egypt, for its part, repeatedly stressed its refusal to coordinate in operating the Rafah crossing while it is under Israeli military control.

But now aid trucks will flow again, after US President Joe Biden made a phone call on Friday to Egyptian counterpart President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in which both agreed to temporarily permit the flow of UN-provided aid through the Karam Abu Salem crossing, “until a legal mechanism is reached to reoperate the Rafah crossing from the Palestinian side,” according to a statement made by the Egyptian presidency on Friday night.

Meanwhile, an unnamed senior European Union official was quoted saying there are preliminary talks around deploying an EU mission at the Rafah crossing to ensure the flow of aid, but not before the end of the war, with the proposal set to be discussed at the union’s meeting on Monday. Other diplomats were quoted saying this mission will also require prior Egyptian and Israeli approval. Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, along with several Arab counterparts, headed to Brussels on Sunday to discuss the Gaza situation prior to the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting.

These recent diplomatic moves to allow aid to enter Gaza began hours after the International Court of Justice ordered Israel on Friday to immediately halt its military offensive in Rafah and allow the entry of humanitarian aid. It is the latest in a series of decisions by the ICJ and other UN bodies calling on the Occupation government to halt its onslaught on Gaza, furthering Israel’s international isolation.

Amid this growing isolation, media outlets quoted Israeli officials saying that Israel is willing to withdraw forces from Rafah “for political and military considerations.”

UN Secretary-General António Guterres stressed on Friday that ICJ rulings are “binding,” and that he “trusts that the parties will duly comply with the order from the court,” while his undersecretary Martin Griffiths dismissed Israeli claims that the operation in Rafah is “limited,” calling for the release of the prisoners, a ceasefire and “an end to this nightmare” in light of the court’s decision.

UN Special Rapporteur for Palestine Affairs Francesca Albanese also pointed out on Friday that Israel intensified its assault on Rafah after the ICJ decision. “Israel will not stop this madness until we make it stop. Member states must impose sanctions, arms embargo and suspend diplo/political relations with Israel till it ceases its assault,” Albanese said on X.