The Rafah border crossing has opened for the first time in two weeks of conflict between Israel and Hamas to allow the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. The Egyptian government channel Al Qahera News has reported that there will be around 20 trucks that will enter the Strip to transport “food, medical supplies, medicines and humanitarian aid.” The opening took place shortly after 9:00 Spanish time, when trucks could already be seen advancing through the pass that connects the north of the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula with the Gaza Strip, besieged by Israel since last October 7.

Hundreds of volunteers and trucks line up to access the strip, although. This figure coincides, for the moment, with the one offered this week by the president of the United States, Joe Biden, who stated that the first batch of trucks to cross the pass, the only one that is not controlled by Israel, would be about 20 trucks of aid. An amount, the UN denounces, “absolutely insignificant for the humanitarian needs that exist at this moment for 2.2 million people.”

The Egyptian chain detailed that the access of the first trucks It is done in coordination with the Egyptian Red Crescent to bring aid to Gaza, although the Qatari network Al Jazeera stated that “a total of five trucks of the total of 20 that will be able to access the strip this Saturday have already been unloaded.”

Images broadcast by the private Egyptian network ExtraNews show dozens of volunteers applauding and cheering with joy, after days of waiting to be able to access the Palestinian enclave, while Egyptian employees worked to restore damaged pavement due to the bombings by Israel, which did not allow access until now.

Raquel Martí, director of the committee in Spain of the UN agency for Palestine Refugees, already expressed last Thursday in an interview on ‘Hoy por Hoy’ (Cadena Ser), that “20 trucks is a ridiculous amount“The head of UNRWA in Spain stated that Gaza “has been under blockade since 2007” and that, within that blockade, the number of trucks that entered the Strip “in the month of August was 12,000 trucks.” ” 66% through Israeli crossings and the rest through Rafah,” he explained, adding that most of “those trucks were of consumer goods, including humanitarian aid and construction materials.”

Limit situation in Gaza

The aid arrives just over 48 hours after learning of the agreement reached by the US and Israel to allow the passage of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and at a critical moment for the population of the Strip. The bombings continue to occur, along with the threat of the imminent entry of the Israeli army for more than a week.

14 days after the siege began, water, food and operating utensils or medicines were an almost impossible luxury to obtain. Thousands of Palestinians who resist as best they can the Israeli offensive and the inhumane conditions in which they are kept and it is hoped that the entry of this aid, insufficient, will at least give a halo of hope.

Until this Saturday, not a single truck had crossed the Rafah Pass, which was also impassable due to the sinkholes caused by the bombings. According to the president of the United States, Joe Biden, the crossing will be open in the next 24 or 48 hours. But every minute counts, and the Secretary General of the United Nations knows that well.

Antonio Guterres, the highest representative of the UN, has asked that many more trucks enter and that they enter as soon as possible, and has demanded a ceasefire: “This is a war zone, and that is why I ask for a humanitarian ceasefire“.

While hundreds of trucks wait to bring aid to the Gazans, Israel continues to hit the Strip hard. The attacks continue. Tonight, Israel attacked “targets throughout Gaza” after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “fight until victory” following the release of the first two hostages by the ruling Hamas group in the enclave. Netanyahu asserted that there would be no pause in Israel’s airstrike and reiterated his intention to carry out an imminent ground invasion.

Palestinian media, for their part, have stated that Israeli rockets have attacked six houses in northern Gaza, a coastal enclave that is one of the most densely populated places in the world, killing at least 19 people and injuring dozens.

Peace Summit in Cairo

The opening of the Rafah border crossing occurs on the same day that the New Administrative Capital of Egypt, 50 kilometers southeast of Cairohosts an international summit headed by the Egyptian president, Abdel Fattah al Sisi, and in which leaders from around the world participate, including the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez.

Before the start of the meeting, the President of the Government met with the President of the European Parliament, Charles Michel, the head of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell. In addition, Sánchez was received as he got off the plane that took him to the Egyptian capital by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt, Sameh Shoukry.

The summit has been organized by Egypt, country that has invited Spain to participate in this Cairo meeting in which the head of the Executive, who presides over the Council of the EU this semester, decided to attend. The presence of almost twenty international leaders is planned in the Egyptian capital, including the French President, Emmanuel Macron, and the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, as well as the Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, and the High Representative for EU foreign policy, Josep Borrell.

The objective of the meeting is to analyze the current situation in the region and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza as well as the future of the Palestinian cause and the peace process. According to the Government, this is of an effort to mobilize the international community in order to stop the current spiral of violence and seek solutions to the conflict.