El-Sisi and Biden agree to send aid to Gaza via Karem Abu Salem crossing
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has agreed in a phone call with his United States counterpart, Joe Biden, to allow United Nations aid through the Karem Abu Salem border crossing (known in Israel as Kerem Shalom) to the bombarded and besieged Gaza Strip, the White House says.
“President Biden welcomed the commitment from President el-Sisi to permit the flow of UN-provided humanitarian assistance” through the crossing, it said in a readout of the call, adding: “This will help save lives.”
The aid will be sent to Gaza via the crossing – located where the borders of Egypt, Israel and Gaza come together – until legal mechanisms are in place to reopen the crucial Rafah border crossing from the Palestinian side, the Egyptian presidency said.
The agreement resulted from “the difficult humanitarian situation of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the lack of means of life in the Strip, and the lack of fuel needed for hospitals and bakeries,” the statement said
The move was also confirmed by the Palestinian Authority presidency, according to the Wafa news agency.
According to the White House statement, Biden expressed “his full commitment to support efforts to reopen the Rafah crossing with arrangements acceptable to both Egypt and Israel”. The statement said he agreed to send a senior team to Cairo next week for further talks.
“What has been happening is, behind the scenes for a number of weeks now, we’ve been told there have been talks taking place between Israel, Egypt and US officials to get some sort of a deal to try and get some sort of opening to facilitate aid to come in,” Halkett said.
“The goal actually, from a United States standpoint, is to try and get a neutral third party … to try and take control of the Rafah crossing – and that seems to be where the stumbling block is,” Halkett added.
Aid agencies and rights groups, including several UN bodies, have warned that dwindling supplies in Gaza will result in a famine and will further worsen an already dire humanitarian crisis.
Before the closure of the Rafah crossing, supplies of humanitarian aid and much needed fuel were trickling into the territory. Shortages have caused multiple hospitals to cease operations and have affected much of Gaza’s north, where famine has taken hold in some ravaged areas.
