Preparations for the imminent reopening of the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip were reported to be in full swing on Friday, according to sources within the Egyptian security apparatus. It was noted that concerted efforts were underway on both sides of the border to ensure a smooth passage for trucks destined for the Gaza Strip, in anticipation of the crossing’s official resumption of operations, as confirmed by senior sources familiar with the matter.
The primary objective behind these coordinated actions is to facilitate the unimpeded delivery of essential humanitarian, medical, and food aid to the Gaza Strip, as emphasized by the sources involved in the preparations. A significant number of trucks laden with crucial aid items are already stationed on the Egyptian side of the border, poised for immediate deployment as soon as the crossing is declared operational for humanitarian missions.
This notable development comes on the heels of a landmark agreement brokered between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, effectively putting an end to over 15 months of protracted conflict in the besieged Gaza Strip. The terms of the ceasefire agreement entailed the mutual release of additional hostages by the warring factions, with Hamas committing to freeing a portion of the hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli penitentiaries.
While the ceasefire agreement was scheduled to come into effect on the upcoming Sunday, uncertainties lingered regarding the feasibility of meeting this timeline. The truce was initially slated to span a 42-day period, during which a total of 33 out of the 98 hostages still in Hamas’ custody were slated for repatriation, although the fate of some of the hostages remained unclear at this juncture. In reciprocal gestures, a considerable number of Palestinian detainees were poised to be liberated from Israeli detention facilities as part of the negotiated settlement.
The formal ratification of the ceasefire agreement by the Israeli government remained pending at the time of reporting, underscoring the delicate nature of the ongoing peace process in the conflict-stricken region. Khaled Zayed, who serves as the head of the Egyptian Red Crescent in North Sinai, corroborated in statements to dpa that no humanitarian aid shipments had transited through the Kerem Shalom crossing on Friday, given its continued closure for operational reasons.
It is worth noting that the Rafah border crossing on the Palestinian side had been under Israeli military occupation since May of the previous year, further complicating the logistical landscape for humanitarian relief efforts in the Gaza Strip. In the aftermath of the ceasefire declaration between Israel and Hamas, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) issued an urgent appeal for unimpeded access to deliver critical food supplies and aid to the beleaguered region.
The WFP highlighted that a substantial quantity of over 80,000 tons of essential food supplies was either stockpiled outside Gaza or en route to the area, with the capacity to sustain more than a million individuals for a span of three months. Alarming statistics from the United Nations indicated that upwards of 90%
