Palestinian Presidency backs Egyptian-US deal to allow aid to Gaza via Kerem Shalom crossing

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) - The Palestinian Presidency backed an agreement Friday between Egypt and the US on the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip through the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing.

The aid is for a temporary period under the current seizure of the Rafah crossing by the Israeli army.

"Following official contacts with Egypt, it was agreed to allow the entry of relief aid to the blockaded war-torn Strip via the Karm Abu Salem crossing (the Palestinian name of the crossing)," the Presidency said in a statement cited by the official Palestinian news agency, WAFA.

It noted that the new procedure will be on "a temporary basis pending the conclusion of an agreement on the operation of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing."

Rafah's vital border crossing with Egypt has been closed since Israel seized the Gazan side when it began its Rafah invasion on May 6.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his American counterpart, Joe Biden, agreed in a telephone call to temporarily deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing, according to an earlier statement by the Egyptian Presidency.

The White House said separately that Biden "welcomed the commitment from President Al-Sisi to permit the flow of UN-provided humanitarian assistance from Egypt through the Karem Shalom crossing on a provisional basis for onward distribution throughout Gaza."

The phone call comes in the wake of a ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that ordered Tel Aviv to immediately cease its military offensives in Rafah.

Israel continued its brutal offensive on Gaza despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

More than 35,850 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, the vast majority being women and children, and nearly 80,300 others injured since October following an attack by Hamas.

More than seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of “genocide” at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered Tel Aviv to ensure its forces do not commit acts of genocide and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar