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Israel’s siege of Gaza in the wake of Hamas terror attacks has blocked food, water, fuel and electricity from reaching the occupied territory.
The only way out of Gaza is a crossing point at Rafah into neighbouring Egypt , which has been effectively sealed following Hamas attacks on 7 October. Israel’s ensuing bombardments have displaced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in a densely-populated region. There is no way to leave by sea.
On 21 October, 20 trucks carrying medicine, supplies, food and water arrived via Rafah, delivering the first humanitarian aid into Gaza two weeks after Israel’s assault began.
Humanitarian groups have stressed that the aid is a drop in the bucket for more than two million people facing exhausted emergency rations and little water in Gaza. The Rafa border crossing remained closed to hundreds of foreign nationals gathered on the Gaza side hoping to escape an intensifying humanitarian crisis; Israel’s looming ground invasion and ongoing airstrikes.
More than 200 trucks carrying 3,000 tonnes of aid for Gaza have been waiting at the border for days.
The US Department of State anticipates that the border “will remain fluid and unpredictable” during the crisis, according to travel guidance for Americans who may still be trapped in Gaza.
“If you assess it to be safe, you may wish to move closer to the Rafah border crossing – there may be very little notice if the crossing opens, and it may only open for a limited time,” according to the state department.
“We urge all parties to keep the Rafah crossing open to enable the continued movement of aid that is imperative to the welfare of the people of Gaza,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday.
“We have been clear: Hamas must not interfere with the provision of this life-saving assistance. Palestinian civilians are not responsible for Hamas’s horrific terrorism, and they should not be made to suffer for its depraved acts.”
The Biden administration will continue to work closely with partners in the region to stress the importance of adhering to the law of war, supporting those who are trying to get to safety or proe assistance, and facilitating access to food, water, medical care, and shelter for citizens wherever they are located in Gaza, Mr Blinken added.
The US administration is working with officials in Israel and Egypt to move American citizens and their immediate family members out of the region, with assistance from the US embassy in Cairo.
A convoy of humanitarian aid trucks arrives in Gaza via the Rafah border crossing through Egypt on 21 October
(AFP via )
The Rafah border opening followed several days’ of high-level international diplomacy during the deepening crisis including visits to Israel by US President Joe Biden and United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
Prior to President Biden’s meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel had refused to allow any flow of aid to Gaza until the release of hostages kidnapped by Hamas.
The Biden administration has pledged $100m in humanitarian aid to Gaza but international relief agencies have urged that much more is desperately needed.
More than 4,300 people are dead and thousands are injured in the region, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Gaza hospitals have run low on supplies and fuel, relying on emergency generators during the regionwide blackout, leaving several unable to function altogether, the health ministry reported.
The first trucks to enter Gaza on 21 October included medical supplies like trauma bags for first responders as well as 44,000 bottles of drinking water, enough for 22,000 people to drink in a single day, according to UNICEF and the World Health Organization.
Israel has continued to block the flow of fuel into Gaza, including fuel for hospitals.
“The United States remains committed to ensuring that civilians in Gaza will continue to have access to food, water, medical care, and other assistance, without diversion by Hamas,” President Biden said in a statement on 21 October.
“We will continue to work with all parties to keep the Rafah crossing in operation to enable the continued movement of aid that is imperative to the welfare of the people of Gaza, and to continue working to protect civilians, consistent with obligations under international humanitarian law,” he added.
Egyptian aid workers watch as a truck crosses back into Egypt through the Rafah border crossing with Gaza on 21 October, 2023
(AFP via )
The crossing at Gaza’s southern border with Egypt separates the region from the Sinai desert. It remains the only portion of occupied Palestinian territory that Israel does not effectively control, though Israeli military patrols the skies and has continued to bomb the area. Only Gaza residents with permission and foreign nationals can use the crossing to travel between Gaza and Egypt.
Following a 1982 treaty between Egypt and Israel, the state withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula it had controlled for nearly two decades.
Israel then opened the Rafah crossing, which came under its control until 2005. In the two years that followed, prior to Hamas’ takeover of Gaza, roughly 450,000 people used the crossing.
Border restrictions on people and goods into the region significantly tightened in 2007. An attack on border fortifications in 2008 prompted the movement of 50,000 Palestinians from Gaza into Egypt for food, fuel and other supplies.
An average of 27,000 people crossed the Rafah border each month according to United Nations data from July. Up until that month, the border was open for 138 days and closed for 74 days this year.
Foreign citizens wait at the Rafah crossing to be allowed to travel on October 21, 2023 in Rafah, Gaza
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Rafah’s crossing is now formally controlled by both Egyptian and Palestinian authorities in Gaza. Israeli airstrikes have recently struck areas along the border including designated safe zones where Gaza residents were instructed to move amid ongoing bombardment campaigns, according to The Associated Press.
Egypt has sought to prevent a large number of Palestinians from entering its country over fears of further destabilisation. Instead, Egyptian officials have pressed Israel to commit to allowing aid into Gaza.
“Of course, we sympathize. But be careful, while we sympathize, we must always be using our minds in order to reach peace and safety in a manner that doesn’t cost us much,” Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi said last week.
