Trucks Enter Gaza via Karm Abu Salem Crossing for First Time in 20 Days – Egypt’s Red Crescent
(AWP) - 150 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid arrived at Karm Abu Salem crossing and started entering the Gaza Strip for the first time in 20 days, according to Egypt’s Red Crescent on Sunday.
“Additional trucks are being prepared in case more aid and fuel trucks can enter throughout the day,” said Khaled Zayed, Chairman of the Red Crescent Society in North Sinai.
Zayed warned that the food and medical supplies may spoil due to the overcrowding of Red Crescent warehouses in North Sinai and the accumulation of hundreds of aid relief trucks in front of the Rafah crossing and on the streets, as Israel continues to “obstruct the delivery of aid into the Strip.”
Earlier on Sunday, Egypt’s Al-Qahera news station reported that 200 aid trucks had departed from the Rafah crossing to the Karm Abu Salem crossing, including food aid and four fuel tankers. The aid will be handed over to the UN on the Palestinian side, with each truck carrying between 15 and 20 tons of aid.
The Egyptian presidency announced on Friday that President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and U.S. President Joe Biden had agreed on the necessity of delivering humanitarian aid and fuel to the UN at Karm Abu Salem on a temporary basis.
The Israeli army had shut down the Karm Abu Salem crossing to aid trucks on May 6 after Israeli soldiers stationed at the crossing came under a shelling attack which resulted in casualties.
Israel’s control of the Palestinian side of Rafah crossing on May 8 also led to its closure to aid deliveries and the exit of wounded persons and patients.