Red Crescent Comments on Border Checkpoint with Egypt

When Israel began its aerial bombardment of Gaza, the Rafah crossing was completely sealed off, blocking the Palestinians from leaving the Gaza Strip.

Israel has announced a humanitarian ceasefire in southern Gaza for five hours starting at 06:00 GMT today. During this period, some residents of the Gaza Strip should be allowed to leave the area for Egypt through the Rafah crossing, and humanitarian aid will be delivered.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society representative Neebal Farsakh spoke to Sputnik on the situation at the Rafah checkpoint.

"So far, the Red Crescent has not been informed about the opening of the Rafah crossing for humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, though we are the ones responsible for delivering humanitarian aid," he said.

"We continue to wait for the official notification of the opening of the crossing so that our crews can safely reach, bring and distribute aid to the affected people," he added.

Another representative of the Palestinian Red Crescent, Mohamad Fetyani, told Sputnik Arabic that everyone is waiting for an agreement to be reached and for the checkpoint to finally open.

"Trucks carrying humanitarian aid are lined up on the Egyptian side. They are ready to leave at any moment. But we are waiting not only for an open border, but also for security. You know that hospitals and roads are being shelled. Now, it is dangerous even to go there with an ambulance. Four Red Crescent workers have died. It is important that our convoys can safely reach the aid distribution centers and hospitals," he clarified.

"People really need help. The situation in the health sector is very difficult, there is a lack of fuel, and a lack of essential goods. People need to be helped," he added.

Earlier, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) confirmed that more than one million Gazans have been displaced from their homes due to the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Mohamad Fetyani also warned that "if an agreement can be reached now and all the trucks that are now on the Egyptian side go to the Gaza Strip, all the things that are brought in will be distributed very quickly, the hospitals have used up all their supplies so much that they will not be able to work with these supplies for long."

Mohamad expressed the urgent humanitarian need for a permanently open border crossing.

"More and more [supplies] have to be brought in. So opening the checkpoints for a few hours is a half-measure, it will not be enough for the normal delivery of humanitarian aid," he explained.

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