U.S Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has urged all parties to keep the Rafah crossing into Gaza open to enable aid to continue coming through.
He noted that the opening of the route early Saturday was the result of “days of exhaustive U.S diplomatic engagement in the region.
The Rafah crossing point between Egypt and Gaza was finally opened on Saturday, October 21, 2023, to allow 20 Egyptian trucks carrying mainly medical supplies across.
It came after a week of intense negotiations involving the U.S, Israel, Egypt and UN.
Under the agreement, only 20 trucks was allowed on Saturday, all deliveries from the Egyptian Red Crescent to the Palestinian Red Crescent organisation. A UN official said that the next convoy might not be allowed to cross until Monday.
In a newly released statement, Blinken asserted that U.S welcomes the delivery of a 20-truck convoy “carrying much needed humanitarian assistance to the people in Gaza, the first since Hamas’s horrific October 7 terrorist attack on Israel.”
Blinken expressed gratitude to the U.S’ partners in Egypt, Israel and the United Nations, for facilitating the safe passage of these shipments through the Rafah border crossing.
“With this convoy, the international community is beginning to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza that has left residents of Gaza without access to sufficient food, water, medical care, and safe shelter,” Blinken stated.
“We have been clear: Hamas must not interfere with the provision of this life-saving assistance,” Blinken warned, adding that “Palestinian civilians are not responsible for Hamas’s horrific terrorism, and they should not be made to suffer for its depraved acts.”
“As President Biden stated, if Hamas steals or diverts this assistance it will have demonstrated once again that it has no regard for the welfare of the Palestinian people and as a practical matter it will hinder the international community from being able to provide this aid.
“Civilian lives must be protected, and assistance must urgently reach those in need.”
Antony Blinken
Moreover, Blinken disclosed that the U.S will continue to work closely with partners in the region to stress the importance of adhering to the law of war, supporting those who are trying to get to safety or provide assistance, and facilitating access to food, water, medical care, and shelter for citizens wherever they are located in Gaza.
He added, “We continue to work urgently in partnership with Egypt and Israel to facilitate the ability of US citizens and their immediate family members to exit Gaza safely and travel via Egypt to their final destinations.”
Commitment Of Much More Aid Needed
Meanwhile, the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, told a peace summit in Cairo that “The people of Gaza need a commitment for much, much more – a continuous delivery of aid to Gaza at the scale that is needed.”
The Israeli government has demanded to see proof that the aid deliveries are not seized or diverted by Hamas, before authorising further deliveries.
A UN official said on Saturday that “verification procedures are still under discussion.”
Aid agencies are also negotiating with Israel to allow fuel, essential for hospital generators and Gaza’s water desalination and pumping system, to be part of the humanitarian convoys.
On Friday, Guterres visited the Rafah crossing where substantial quantities of humanitarian aid were waiting for the green light to cross into Gaza.
“There I saw a paradox – a humanitarian catastrophe playing out in real time. On the one hand, I saw hundreds of trucks teeming with food and other essential supplies.
“On the other hand, we know that just across the border, there are 2 million people – without water, food, fuel, electricity and medicine. Children, mothers, the elderly, the sick. Full trucks on one side, empty stomachs on the other.”
Antonio Guterres
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