At 8:30am on 18 January, millions of people worldwide were holding their breath as their eyes were glued to television screens in anticipation of the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage-exchange deal between the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas and Israel, something for which they had been waiting for 470 days.
The moment was documented by 150 foreign media correspondents, said Diaa Rashwan, head of the State Information Service (SIS), which facilitated a visit to the Rafah Crossing in coordination with the relevant state authorities to cover the beginning of the truce and capture the movement of hundreds of trucks loaded with humanitarian and relief aid bound for the Palestinian people.
As news of the imminent ceasefire spread, Egypt initiated preparations for a second phase of its humanitarian response to aid the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.
Expressing their joy at the implementation of the ceasefire agreement, Egyptians from all walks of life participated in donations to civil society organisations and the Egyptian Red Crescent to help the Palestinians in Gaza and support humanitarian and relief convoys that began mobilising towards the North Sinai governorate as soon as the truce was announced.
Over the past 470 days, the Egyptian Red Crescent has maintained its commitment to delivering humanitarian and relief aid to Gaza, despite facing restrictions and challenging conditions. This effort has been supported by various state agencies that have collectively mobilised resources to prepare and send aid.
The Egyptian Red Crescent declared a state of emergency and established an operations room to coordinate with international organisations and the Palestinian Red Crescent in its response to the war on Gaza. Its operations room oversaw the collection of aid across Egypt, as well as receiving shipments from abroad and ensuring the delivery of aid to Gaza.
It has established logistical centres in Arish to support the Gaza Strip, manage the reception of relief trucks carrying essential humanitarian aid, and oversee their preparation for entry into the Strip.
“Since 7 October 2023, the Egyptian Red Crescent has been tasked with verifying the safety and quality of all incoming aid shipments, whether arriving by land, sea, or air. Each shipment is inspected to ensure it meets approved standards, coded, and prepared for transport into Gaza,” Morsi said, adding that “this effort has continued even during periods when the Rafah Crossing was closed, with aid facilitated through the Kerem Abu Salem Crossing instead.”
The moment trucks carrying relief supplies lined up at the Rafah Crossing began moving into Gaza will be remembered by millions of viewers watching Egyptian satellite TV channels. These reported that in the first few hours of the truce, 200 trucks accessed the Strip, with the target being 600 in the first few days of the ceasefire.
Essam Abdel-Rahman, a member of the National Alliance for Civil Development Work (NACDW) and director of media for the Sonaa Al-Kheir Foundation, a NGO, said that “the alliance began immediate preparations as soon as a potential ceasefire agreement became apparent, mobilising rapidly to dispatch aid convoys to Gaza.”
“The biggest challenges included assessing the basic needs of Gaza in the nick of time,” he added.
The NACDW had already announced its readiness to launch its ninth relief convoy to the Gaza Strip as part of the truce, carrying urgent humanitarian and medical aid to meet the critical needs of affected families.
Inside Gaza, the atmosphere was one of mixed emotions, with hope mixing with tensions. Residents anticipated the news of the ceasefire even as their eyes remained fixed on the skies for signs of incoming Israeli shellfire, Palestinian writer and commentator Mariam Heggy told Al-Ahram Weekly on social media.
Heggy was displaced from Gaza with her family in 2023. She arrived in Egypt some five months ago, residing in a tent near the Philadelphi Corridor along the Egyptian border.
However, her links with Egypt go back to before the war when she visited the Cairo Book Fair for a book-signing event, a memory that has sustained her through difficult times. Despite her displacement, she has maintained contact with her Egyptian friends, who have provided crucial support, including by transferring funds to her family via mobile wallet services.
Over time, Heggy has taken on the responsibility of collecting donations independently to assist her family and neighbouring families in Gaza.
“Feeling safe is a blessing,” she said, adding that “we have lived on aid consisting of dry grains for so long that now we are longing for hot cooked food. We still cannot fully grasp the extent of Gaza’s destruction that we’ve all seen on out TV screens.”
Heggy emphasised Egypt’s spearheading of reconstruction efforts in Gaza. “Egypt has donated a million litres of diesel fuel to operate electricity generators and other essential facilities,” she said.
“The country and the people that have supported us the most are Egypt and the Egyptians. I believe that 90 per cent of donations came from Egypt. However, the help of the Egyptian people goes beyond financial contributions — they have always been our true supporters.”
“People here need everything, everything from A to Z. Many also cannot return to Gaza because they lack the funds,” she continued.
“Egypt has stood by Gaza unwaveringly,” Heggy said, lauding the presence and heroic efforts of the Egyptian Red Crescent, whose teams have provided continuous support. She also noted that Egyptian solidarity campaigns with Gaza, particularly boycott movements and social media discussions, have warmed all Gazan hearts.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 23 January, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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