Egypt holds Israel responsible for closing the Rafah crossing

Waits continue at the Rafah border crossing, despite several concerned parties indicating the border may open on Friday to deliver aid to civilians in Gaza.

According to Ambassador Ahmed Abu Zeid, spokesman for the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Egypt is not responsible for closing the border crossing, and Israel is the country at fault for stopping aid.

“Targeting [Egypt] “The current crisis is clear in the Western media.” He said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Promoting the displacement scenario, contract [Egypt] Responsible for closing the crossing though [Israel’s] Targeted attacks, denial of entry of aid and recent hints [Egyptian] Responsibility for obstructing the exit of third-country nationals.”

President Biden on Friday expected trucks loaded with humanitarian aid to enter Gaza within the next 48 hours amid concerns that aid could be prevented from crossing the border there.

Biden said: “I obtained a pledge from the Israelis and the Egyptian president that the crossing will be open.”

Biden previously spoke with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who agreed to allow up to 20 trucks of humanitarian aid into Gaza at the Rafah border crossing. He said the road at the crossing was “in very poor condition” and needed to be repaved.

The UN Secretary-General spoke at the Rafah crossing on Friday, saying that aid represented a “life or death” difference for civilians in Gaza and called for more trucks to cross into Gaza.

The aid comes as part of a $100 million humanitarian aid package for civilians in Gaza, which Biden announced on Wednesday when he was visiting Israel. The aid will include food, water and medicine as civilians have been suffering from a shortage of supplies since Hamas, which controls Gaza, began war with Israel nearly two weeks ago.

The conflict killed more than 1,400 Israelis, most of them in the surprise attack by Hamas on October 7 that started the war, while 3,800 Palestinians were killed in the Israeli counterattack, the Hamas-led health ministry in Gaza announced.