The Egyptian Gazette pays visit to the Rafah crossing point between Sinai and Gaza to throw light on efforts made on the Egyptian side to enter aid into the war-torn Palestinian territory
Rafah – Egypt maintains the delivery of humanitarian and relief aid to the Gaza Strip, in its bid to cater to growing needs for this aid, amid hopes by Egyptian aid workers that they can deliver more aid to the Palestinians inside the blockaded territory.
Also hopeful of increasing the aid are international officials who pay repeated visits to the Rafah crossing point on the border between Sinai and Gaza.
One of these officials was Palestinian Minister of Health, Dr Mai Salem al-Kailah, who arrived at the crossing point in late November in the company of her Egyptian counterpart, Dr Khaled Abdel Ghaffar.
Minister al-Kailah expressed hopes for a raise in the amount of aid entering Gaza from Egypt.
“Increasing the aid is very important, given growing needs inside the Gaza Strip,” Minister al-Kailah told on the sidelines of her visit to the crossing point.
“The people of Gaza deserve more attention from the international community,” she added.
Egypt has been calling for increasing aid delivery to Gaza’s population of more than 2.3 million since the beginning of Israeli attacks against the Palestinian territory on October 7.
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi warned, meanwhile, against what he described as the ‘collective punishment’ of Gaza’s population.
Over 600 trucks loaded with all types of foodstuffs, medicine and fuel used to enter Gaza from Egypt every day before the current Israeli campaign, according to the Egyptian leader.
However, soon after it unleashed its onslaught on Gaza, Israel only allowed the entry of two dozen trucks into the coastal territory every day and prevented the entry of fuel altogether.
A little more than 100 humanitarian and relief aid trucks enter Gaza every day now, which is a fraction of what the residents of the Palestinian territory need.
Aid trucks keep accumulating to fill the distance between al-Arish Airport and the Rafah crossing, around 30 kilometres away.
Some of the trucks wait for days until they are allowed to move on the road to the crossing point before their entry into Gaza.
The drivers of the trucks bring all types of essentials with them, including stoves, food, and blankets, so that they can cope with the endless wait and tough weather conditions in this part of Sinai, such as repeated sandstorms and rainfall.
Some of the trucks arrive from different Egyptian cities, including some whose contents are donated by the local civil society, charities and the members of the public.
The contents of other locally-sourced trucks are provided by the National Alliance for Civilian and Development Action.
So far, Egypt has provided the vast majority of the aid entering Gaza, according to the Egyptian government.
Some of the other aid is sent by other countries. This aid arrives at al-Arish Airport which has turned into a major logistical hub for the reception and delivery of aid to Gaza.
The flow of aid into North Sinai was challenging for authorities in this Egyptian governorate.
North Sinai Governor, Abdel Fadil Shousha, said his governorate authorities have specified a large number of warehouses for the reception and storage of the aid arriving from other countries.
The governor revealed that he and his colleagues had formed a cell to manage and coordinate the reception, distribution and delivery of the aid into Gaza in coordination with Egyptian institutions, including the Egyptian Red Crescent Society.
So far, around 230 planes have arrived in al-Arish Airport, bringing aid to Gaza from 54 countries, according to Governor Shousha.
His governorate has also specified residential buildings where injured victims from Gaza stay after they are discharged from North Sinai hospitals.
“Those who want to re-enter Gaza after their recovery can do this,” Governor Shousha said.
The Gaza crisis has given the Egyptian Red Crescent Society more work. Before the crisis, the society was busy delivering aid to Sudan and other regional states affected by conflicts and natural disasters.
The society has assigned around 1,000 of its volunteers the mission of coordinating the aid entering Gaza, according to its officials.
University student, Rania Hussein Azmi, is one of these volunteers. Azmi said she and her colleagues have left everything behind and come to be part of the national drive to support the residents of Gaza.
“These people deserve support,” Azmi told
, metres away from the Rafah crossing point. “Our time and effort are the least people like us can offer at a time like this.”