While the Gaza Strip suffers the worst bombing in 75 years by the Israeli army, the only border crossing not controlled by Israel, the Rafah crossing that connects the Palestinian territory with Egypt, has suffered up to three bombings in less than 24 hours. The Gaza Interior Ministry reported that shelling on Monday and Tuesday had hit an entrance gate on the Palestinian side of the crossing, so there does not appear to be any safe escape route for Gazans. Nor for the entry of humanitarian aid.
The Israeli Army confirmed yesterday that it had carried out bombings in the area to destroy a tunnel used to clandestinely introduce weapons and equipment into Gaza, in the third attack of this type in less than 24 hours, according to NGOs and local media, which point out that there have been suspended operations at the crossing.
In a briefing on Tuesday, an Israeli army spokesman, Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, suggested that Gazans should try to leave through the Gaza border crossing with Egypt. Hours later, the Israeli military revised this recommendation.
Meanwhile, humanitarian aid, which can only enter through this route due to the total blockade imposed by Israel, reaches the civilian population in dribs and drabs. Today Jordan will send to Egypt the first humanitarian aid plane since the start of the war between Hamas and Israel bound for the Gaza Strip, and the delivery will be made through the Rafah crossing.
“A humanitarian aid plane will arrive today in Egypt and then this aid will be transported through the Rafah (pass). There will be military and political coordination with Egypt,” said sources from the press office of the Hashemite Charitable Organization of Jordan ( JHCO, for its acronym in English), in charge of humanitarian shipment, information confirmed by Jordanian state television.
When asked what will happen if Israel, which imposes a blockade and siege against Gaza, prevents aid from entering the enclave, the sources preferred not to comment on the matter.
On Tuesday, Jordan’s King Abdullah II ordered the urgent shipment of humanitarian aid and medical supplies to the Gaza Strip to “meet the needs” of the 2.2 million Palestinians living in the enclave, which is being intensively bombed by Israel after the offensive of the Islamist movement Hamas against the Jewish State.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri confirmed on Tuesday that Egypt is “making tireless efforts to deliver humanitarian and relief aid through Rafah, despite Israeli bombings against areas on the Palestinian side of the crossing,” according to a statement. of the ministry.
So far, only the Egyptian Red Crescent has announced the shipment of the first shipment of emergency medical aid through this route in coordination with its Palestinian counterpart.
The Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar, Mohamed bin Abderrahman, asked the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, on Tuesday to guarantee the arrival of humanitarian aid to the Strip.
In a phone call, the Qatari conveyed to Guterres “the need to activate international action mechanisms through the UN and its agencies, within the framework of reducing the escalation and guaranteeing the delivery of urgent humanitarian aid to those affected,” according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Arab country.
Likewise, given the criticism received by Qatar – which has hosted Hamas’s political office in Doha for a decade – the head of Qatari diplomacy expressed his country’s condemnation of the attacks against civilians and “the need to work with all partners.” international organizations to guarantee their safety.
Qatar, along with the United States and the European Union, is considered a key actor by the UN for de-escalating the conflict, given the ties that the Arab country maintains with Hamas and the multimillion-dollar aid it allocates to the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli “total blockade” has left Gazans without water, food, electricity or fuel, something that has been condemned by the United Nations, which has warned that it could lead to a humanitarian catastrophe.
The UN has reported that access to humanitarian staff and supplies to Gaza has been cut off, while the intensity of Israeli bombing of the enclave has “limited the ability to deliver aid.”
Additionally, the World Health Organization (WHO), other UN agencies and partners are working to establish a humanitarian corridor to deliver urgent supplies to Gaza.
Since the start of the war, hundreds of trucks loaded with humanitarian aid have arrived from Rafah while there have also been movements of Palestinians towards Egypt, according to the UN.
This new war enters its fifth day this Wednesday. During the early morning, Israel’s air attacks on the Strip continued, with extensive bombardments on more than 320 targets in different parts of the enclave.
The number of deaths in Israel due to the surprise attack by Hamas this Wednesday exceeded 1,200, while the Israeli bombings in Gaza have already left 950 dead.
