The Egyptian Red Crescent (ERC) dispatched four humanitarian aid convoys to the Gaza Strip this week. ERC announced this week that it has sent the 62nd, 63rd and 64th convoys of “Zad Al-Izza, from Egypt to Gaza”, loaded with thousands of tons of urgent relief aid, to the Gaza Strip as part of Egypt’s ongoing efforts to support the Palestinian people in light of the worsening humanitarian crisis.
According to the executive director of ERC Amal Imam, each convoy carried more than 300,000 food baskets, in addition to 1,000 tons of flour, more than 2,000 tons of urgent medical and relief supplies, and 1,300 tons of petroleum products needed to operate vital facilities within the Strip.
“These convoys are an extension of the humanitarian initiative launched by the ERC on 27 July 2025,”Imam said, pointing out that since that date ERC convoys carried more than 650,000 tons of humanitarian aid which included emergency food supply chains, flour, fresh bread, tents, medical supplies and medicines, relief supplies, personal care supplies, baby formula, and tents.
Imam, however, indicated that Egypt’s response to the Gaza crisis began more than 750 days ago during which it provided more than 650,000 tons of humanitarian aid. “Over two years of Israel’s war, Egypt has served as Gaza’s lifeline,” Imam told a delegation led by the president of Colombia on Sunday.
Imam explained that the ERC is also the agency in charge of receiving aid from around the world by air, sea, and land and then transporting it to Gaza through the Rafah and Karm Abu Salem crossings. The ERC receives aid from all around the globe and then takes it to an operations room in Arish, the capital of North Sinai, to prepare their passage into the Strip, Imam said.
Egypt’s aid convoys came amid renewed Israeli attacks on Gaza which blatantly violate the ceasefire reached on 9 October in accordance with US President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan. Although the ceasefire agreement, brokered by Egypt, the United States, Qatar and Turkey, allows up to 600 aid trucks per day to enter Gaza, the actual number reaching the Strip daily ranges from between 350 and 450.
In the meantime, Egypt sent bulldozers and engineering equipment into Gaza to remove debris and search for the bodies of Israeli hostages believed to have been killed during the Gaza war. Earlier on Sunday, Israeli public television reported that under American pressure, Israel allowed an Egyptian team to help locate the bodies of Israeli captives held by Hamas.
An informed source told Al-Qahera News that 18 Egyptian vehicles entered Gaza this week as part of Egyptian-Israeli coordination to facilitate search and rescue operations. Egypt is preparing to send more additional heavy equipment in the coming days to accelerate the work and lay the necessary logistical groundwork for subsequent reconstruction efforts, the source said, emphasising that Egypt’s role is limited to humanitarian and engineering tasks and does not extend to any security responsibilities within the Gaza Strip.
Arab and Palestinian officials said Sunday that eight Palestinian factions, led by Hamas, will meet in a few days in Cairo to discuss forming a transitional administration for the Gaza Strip. The US-based Washington Post reported Monday that the meeting, which is being held under Egyptian auspices, aims to reach a national consensus on the basic elements for forming a technocratic committee to manage the Gaza Strip in the next phase, while Palestinian police forces will be responsible for enforcing the law and maintaining internal security.
The Washington Postcited Arab officials saying that the Palestinian administrative body, if formed, could work alongside or perhaps replace the peace council, as mentioned in President Trump’s plan, and assume security duties within the Gaza Strip instead of foreign forces whose deployment is being considered for this purpose.
The newspaper also cited Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty as saying that Egypt, in coordination with other partners, is focusing on establishing an administrative committee composed entirely of technocrats from Gaza.
Abdelatty added that “the main goal is to enable the Palestinians, including the Palestinian Authority, to administer Gaza as an integral part of the West Bank, and as a step towards establishing a Palestinian state.”
He explained that the committee members would manage the daily lives of Palestinians while the police would be tasked with enforcing the law and maintaining security in Gaza.
Abdelatty said that the Security Council should determine the precise mandate of the peace council,including its relationship with the Palestinian Committee, but he stressed that Egypt and the Palestinian factions agree that civil affairs in Gaza should be managed by the Palestinians themselves.
Palestinian factions met 10 days ago in Cairo to unify their positions in the face of challenges facing the Palestinian cause and after the Sharm El-Sheikh summit which adopted President Donald Trump’s plan for peace and reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. Samir Ghattas, a prominent political analyst, said the new meeting for the Palestinian factions will be something of an intra-Palestinian national dialogue conference to reach a unified agenda on the future of the Palestinian people in the coming stage.
The Palestinian factions to meet in Cairo are expected to include Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. A delegation from Fatah, the representative of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, led by Hussein Al-Sheikh, deputy chairman of the Palestinian Authority, and Maged Farag, chief of the Palestinian Intelligence, are also expected to attend the meeting.
Ghattas said the meeting is also expected to coordinate the forces expected to be deployed in Gaza in accordance with Trump’s peace plan. “Israel does not approve that Egyptian or Turkish forces deploy in Gaza but under pressure from the United States they might approve that forces from Egypt and other countries like Indonesia enter the Strip,”Ghattas said.
Experts see that political tensions between Egypt and Israel due to the Gaza war are not over yet. This is despite the visit of the chief of Egyptian General Intelligence Hassan Rashad to Israel two weeks ago. Israel’s Energy Minister Eli Cohen announced on Friday that the $35 billion agreement to export Israeli gas to Egypt faces obstacles. Cohen’s office said“Israel will not proceed with the agreement until a fair price is secured for the local market and Israel’s interests and energy needs are fully met.”
In August, New Med, a partner in Israel’s Leviathan natural gas field, announced it would export 130 billion cubic metres of gas to Egypt between 2026 and 2040.
Israeli newspapers, including Yediot Aharonot, quoted officials as saying that US Energy Secretary Chris Wright canceled a planned visit to Israel next week after Israel refused to approve its major natural gas export agreement with Egypt.
Cohen’s office indicated that the Trump administration is exerting tremendous pressure on Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to approve the agreement.
Ghattas agreed that Egypt’s gas agreement with Israel is now threatened by obstacles being placed by Netanyahu’s government, which is attempting to exploit it for political gains.
Egypt’s Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli announced in August that Egypt has several viable alternatives other than Israeli gas, that it is not yielding to political manoeuvres or pressure and will not change its stance on Palestine.
Diaa Rashwan, head of Egypt’s State Information Service, also warned that Egypt could even cancel the agreement out of its firm rejection to politicise the gas deal.
Ahmed Fouad Anwar, an expert on Israeli affairs, accused Israel of using economic relations with Egypt to achieve political gains, “but this will not be achieved due to Egypt’s firm position that places the priorities of Egyptian national security above any economic gains. Israel is using the gas deal to exert pressure on Egypt to approve its scheme for deporting the Palestinians from Gaza, but this is completely rejected,” Anwar said.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 6 November, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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