Egypt is facing mounting pressure to act as neighboring Gaza gets pummeled by Israeli strikes after last weekend’s brutal assault in Israel by Hamas.
In the wake of the Hamas attacks, Israel closed its two border crossings with Gaza and imposed a “complete siege” on the territory, blocking supplies of fuel, electricity and water.
It has left the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt as the only viable outlet to get people out of the enclave — and supplies into it.
But the crossing has been closed for much of the past week: Neither Gazans nor foreign nationals have been able to cross.
A Palestinian border official told CNN Egypt had blocked the gates of the crossing with concrete slabs. Egypt has denied reports it closed its side of the crossing, and said the Gaza side had been damaged by repeated Israeli airstrikes.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told CNN on Saturday the crossing was open, but aerial bombardment had rendered the roads “inoperable” on the Gaza side.
Aid is stuck at the crossing: Tons of vital humanitarian supplies for people in Gaza are piling up on the Egyptian side of the border.
Aid flights from Jordan, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the World Health Organization and the Red Cross have arrived in the Egyptian city of El-Arish, approximately 45 kilometers (23 miles) away from Rafah, according to footage aired on Egyptian state television Saturday.
The Red Crescent has warehouses full of humanitarian aid, and the El-Arish stadium has been prepared to accommodate more aid, an official said Saturday.
A World Health Organization plane carrying medical supplies also landed in Egypt on Saturday, the WHO director-general said. However, the organization is still waiting for humanitarian access through the crossing.
Diplomatic efforts: Shoukry, the Egyptian foreign minister, told CNN the country has tried to ship humanitarian aid to Gaza but has not received the proper authorization to do so.
Egypt said Sunday it would intensify its efforts to try and help relief organizations deliver aid to Gaza, though a statement from the Egyptian presidency said “national security is a red line and that there is no compromise in its protection.”
The Biden administration has held talks with Israel and Egypt about getting aid to Gaza and ensuring safe passage for Americans and other civilians out of the territory.
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN on Sunday Egypt was willing to allow Americans to cross at Rafah but a group of them had been blocked by Hamas.
Egypt’s concerns: Egypt, which already hosts millions of migrants, is uneasy about the prospect of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees crossing into its territory. More than two million Palestinians live in Gaza.
Egyptian media outlets have sounded alarms about the prospect of allowing Palestinian refugees into the country, warning it may forcefully displace Gazans into Sinai.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi echoed those sentiments Thursday. “There is a danger” when it comes to Gaza, he said, “a danger so big, because it means an end to this (Palestinian) cause … It is important that (Gaza’s) people remain standing and on their land.”
The Rafah crossing is pictured at the bottom of the map below, which shows the extent of the Israeli blockade on Gaza:
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