UN says opening of Gaza's Rafah border crossing 'desperately needed'

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The opening of a key border crossing between the besieged Gaza Strip and Egypt is "desperately needed," the UN warned Monday.

"Those discussions are going on many levels. But there's no progress on a full opening. It's desperately needed, the full opening of the crossing," spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters at the UN's New York headquarters.

"The UN agencies have supplies ready to move into southern Gaza to meet surging humanitarian needs. It is critical that life-saving assistance is allowed to move through Rafah crossing without delay," he added.

A plane carrying aid from the World Health Organization has arrived in al-Arish, an Egyptian city in the northern Sinai Peninsula near Gaza.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said earlier Monday that the Israeli government "has not taken a position that would lead to the opening of the Rafah crossing towards Gaza to allow for the entry of aid or the departure of citizens from third-party countries."

The foreign minister said he has "hope for a breakthrough in this matter," and noted that "Egypt has been striving since the beginning of the crisis in Gaza to make the Rafah crossing operational, allowing the entry of humanitarian aid that has been accumulated in Al-Arish."