'Egypt never closed Rafah border crossing with Gaza': UNRWA chief

Sunday 14 Jan 2024

Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), stressed on Sunday that the Egyptian side has never closed the Rafah border crossing even for one day since the start of the war, but it is the Israeli side that obstructs aid entry, according to Al-Qahera News TV channel.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) Commissioner-General Phili
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini. Photo: AFP

 

Lazzarini praised the Egyptian efforts to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip, describing the situation in Gaza as very difficult. "For the people of Gaza, the past 100 days have felt like 100 years," he said during his meeting with North Sinai Governor Mohamed Abdel-Fadil Shousha at Arish International Airport before departing for the city of Rafah. 

The UNRWA chief, who is en route to the Gaza Strip to stand on the humanitarian situation on the ground, described the Israeli brutal war in the strip as a crime against humanity, warning that the situation might deteriorate further in Gaza if no action was taken by the international community.

Lazzarini added that the world is watching the death of civilians every day by the Israeli war machine that does not differentiate between humans, stones, or animals. "Everyone is targeted by the Israeli war machine, including women, children, elderly people, and UNRWA staffers," he noted.

He further called repeatedly on the international community and everyone close to the conflict to intervene to end the war or at least secure safe humanitarian corridors in the besieged strip to deliver aid to the Palestinian people.

Meanwhile, the North Sinai governor highlighted the Egyptian efforts in receiving relief, humanitarian and food aid, medicines, and medical supplies and delivering them to the strip through the Rafah border crossing.

Shousha noted that the governorate receives the aid via three routes: the land road, the Arish port, and the Arish International Airport; it had received thousands of tonnes of various aid provided by Egypt along with Arab and foreign countries as well as regional and international organizations.

Speaking before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the Israeli defense team claimed that Egypt is responsible for preventing the entry of humanitarian aid into the strip through the Rafah border crossing and that the Egyptian authorities do not need Israeli permission as they are the ones who have full responsibility for the entry of aid into the strip.

Egypt refuted these falsified allegations, affirming that the Rafah border crossing has remained open since the outbreak of the war on Gaza, firmly rejecting any allegations regarding the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

On its 100th day, the longest and most violent Israeli war in the Gaza Strip is prompting increased calls, both domestically and internationally, for Israel to halt its most devastating war on the Palestinian territories in the past 75 years.

Since the outbreak of the war on 7 October, Israel has imposed a complete blockade on the strip, cutting off all food, water, fuel, and medical supplies.

Egypt has since been facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid into the besieged strip from different destinations through the Rafah border crossing and, recently, through the Karm Abu Salem crossing.

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