Israelis continue to stifle aid passage through Rafah crossing

By Myriam Charabaty
Source: Al Mayadeen English
23 Oct 2023 23:16
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The Rafah border crossing remains shut with nothing but a few trucks going through it while the Western world, complicit in Israeli war crimes, plays diplomacy while greenlighting air raids on Rafah making transport agreements less likely.

Egyptian volunteers shout pro-Palestine slogans at the Rafah crossing port, Egypt, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023 (AP Photo/Omar Aziz)

Over 436 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli airstrikes in the past 24 hours, among which were 182 children, according to Iyad Al-Bazm, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior and National Security in Gaza.

This brings the number of martyrs, killed by the Israeli genocidal attempt to ethnically cleanse the Gaza Strip, to over 5,000 with a total of 1.4 million people displaced after 181,000 homes were severely damaged.

This meant that as of now about 70% of the people of Gaza are displaced and about 1500 remain missing given that the means used to conduct search and rescue missions for Palestinians who remained under the rubble become very scarce.

In numbers, the Israelis have destroyed and damaged 177 schools, putting 32 out of service. 72 governmental facilities were severely damaged, 33 mosques were completely leveled and 3 churches were severely damaged.

In a clear attempt to hinder and choke aid deliveries, the Israeli prime minister's office declared on Sunday that the Israeli regime would not send any humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and would also stop any unauthorized deliveries from other nations.

"Israel will not provide any humanitarian aid to Gaza and will prevent any unsupervised supply from others," the office was quoted as saying by the Haaretz newspaper.

According to people involved with the discussions that were cited by WSJ, negotiations to potentially release 50 other captives broke down because the authorities in Gaza insisted that the Israelis permit fuel deliveries into Gaza.

The main hospital in Gaza City, Al-Shifa Hospital, is set to exhaust its electricity supply in the next 24 hours, as reported by Guillemette Thomas, the medical coordinator for Palestine at Doctors Without Borders, on Friday.

Where patient care is already deteriorating, the hospital stands out as one of the few places still equipped with electricity in war-torn Gaza, she added.

The lack of power poses a critical threat to patients, especially those in intensive care, neonatology, and life support machines.

"Israel" said Wednesday that it will allow Egypt to deliver only "limited humanitarian aid" to the Gaza Strip, according to AP.

The Israeli occupation imposed an inhumane siege on #Gaza, forcing Palestinians to stand in queues for hours to get fresh water and bread.

This has been the case for almost 2 weeks, all while the Israeli war machines level residential neighborhoods non-stop, killing thousands of… pic.twitter.com/T8GwMgfPb9
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) October 23, 2023

With all of that being said, it is important to note that after lengthy negotiations, only 37 trucks loaded with aid and goods were allowed to go through the Rafah border crossing into the besieged Gaza Strip while data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reveal that within that same time period, approximately 5,400 truck would cross over into the Gaza Strip. So far, the world combined has only succeeded in getting 37 out of 5,400 trucks through the crossing despite severely deteriorating circumstances.

Supplies, including food, medication, water purification equipment, hygiene items, and blankets, have been accumulating at El Arish airport in Egypt's Sinai region. The airport expanded its capacity by opening an additional landing strip to manage the influx of aid deliveries.

Yesterday, it was revealed that 44,000 bottles of water were transported to the besieged Strip which would be enough for 22,000 for only a single day!

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The aid being allowed through the crossing is merely a media stunt until now. However, this is not due to the lack of aid being sent to Gaza, for at the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing await hundreds of trucks loaded with medical aid, goods, and fuel.

There were no Israeli guarantees that the aid convoys would be safe to pass, as police minister Itamar Ben Gvir was quoted by Israeli media as saying: "We must not allow any humanitarian assistance to the residents of Gaza."

The statement highlighted that the number of martyrs in the southern Gaza Strip reached 1,652, despite the fact that the Israeli occupation claimed that the areas of southern Gaza were considered safe and not targeted. Such numbers highlight the impossibility of aid access under constant bombardment.

Despite all diplomatic efforts being funneled to allow for a humanitarian corridor to transport aid into the besieged Strip, the Israeli warplanes continue to carry out aggressive and periodical raids against the Palestinian side of Rafah.

Since the beginning of the Israeli aggression, "Israel" had targeted the main road from the Egyptian border over to southern Gaza making it very difficult and even sometimes impossible for trucks to drive through it.

Palestinians had to conduct quick fixes allowing for the road to be drivable but there was no way to eliminate the risk of the road getting bombed again or the convoys getting targeted beyond a few guarantees that "Israel" was never known to necessarily keep.

The Israeli occupation has failed to honor international rules of war and has targeted places of worship, hospitals, UNRWA locations, and various schools where displaced Palestinians, most of whom were children, were taking refuge.

The siege on Gaza has tightened since the start of the ethnic cleansing plot of "Israel". It has even tightened in the face of hospitals whose doctors now operate without any anesthesia and using phone lights as the hospitals have been running out of fuel. Whatever fuel remains has been getting rationed for incubators, oxygen machines, and ambulances.

A DOCTOR IN GAZA OPERATING WITHOUT A LIGHT - HAS TO USE A MOBILE PHONE.

TURN POWER BACK ON IN GAZA YOU CRIMINALS‼️#IsraelAttack #IsraelTerorrist #GazaHospital #Israel #Palestine #PalestinianGenocide #PalestineWar #Palestina #Hamas #Hezbollah #Egypt #Gaza #Gaza_Genocide… pic.twitter.com/ed1qn0kLDw
— Half Baked Humans (@halfbakedhumans) October 21, 2023

In that regard, Abed, who works with Doctors Without Borders, told The Associated Press from Al Quds Hospital "We have a shortage of everything, and we are dealing with very complex surgeries."

While the world watches, and the genocide gets aired on TV in 2023, "Israel" continues to indiscriminately break all international rules, commit war crimes, and forbid anyone from offering Gaza a helping hand in aid. Once again reaffirm that the decision of Resistance has always been the only option for the occupied people.

Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz pledged on Friday that no electricity, water, or fuel would enter Gaza until captives are returned home.

Cairo is facing increased pressure from the Israelis and Western countries to allow Palestinians to flee into Egypt, to fulfill Israeli goals of ethnic cleansing, while Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned Blinken on Friday that the forced displacement of the Gazans would lead to a "second Nakba".

Israeli "evacuation orders" have fueled worries that "Israel" is attempting to forcibly displace Gazans to Egypt's Sinai peninsula, particularly after "Israel's" former Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon claimed that Cairo "will have to play ball" and allow "temporary" settlement in the "almost endless space" of Sinai, a large desert territory.

Cairo's National Security Council said Sunday that "Egypt's national security is a red line and there will be no complacency in protecting it."