Humanitarian aid to Gaza via Egypt to begin as soon as Friday, but will end if Hamas confiscates it: Biden

The humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip via Egypt may begin as soon as Friday, said US President Joe Biden.

Biden, told reporters on Air Force One, that he had spoken to Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who had agreed to reopen the Rafah crossing to allow 20 trucks with humanitarian aid to enter Gaza.

The US president said the roads near the border would need repairs after they were damaged in Israeli strikes, but that aid could start reaching the territory by Friday.

Israel bombed the Gaza-Egypt crossing following the brutal terror attack on Israeli civilians and soldiers.

The statement was made by Biden following an agreement brokered with Sisi and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow assistance into the Palestinian enclave via the Rafah crossing.

“He (Sisi) agreed to… let up to 20 trucks through to begin with,” Biden said from Air Force One while returning from Israel, where he was on a solidarity visit after the October 7 Hamas assault.

Biden further clarified that people will not be able to evacuate Gaza through Rafah. The statement appeared to assuage fears in Cairo that Egypt will be asked to take in refugees from Gaza.

‘Aid would end if…’

Biden warned that “if Hamas confiscates it, doesn’t let it get through … then it’s going to end.”

According to the head of the Red Crescent for North Sinai, Khalid Zayed, there are more than 200 trucks and around 3,000 tons of aid positioned at or near the Rafah crossing.

When second tranche of aid to Gaza will arrive?

Biden said the UN would distribute the humanitarian aid on the other side, and that a second tranche was possible depending on “how it goes.”

Biden and Sisi were due to meet Wednesday at a four-way summit in Jordan, but it was canceled after a deadly blast at a Gaza hospital that claimed lives of 500 people and caused anger across the Arab world.

Meanwhile, speaking to Al-Arabiya TV, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said supplies will go in under supervision of the UN.

Asked whether foreigners and dual nationals seeking to leave would be let through, Shoukry said: “As long as the crossing is operating normally and the (crossing) facility has been repaired.”

Decision for aid approved on Biden’s request

Netanyahu’s office said the decision was approved after a request from Biden.

It further said Israel “will not thwart” deliveries of food, water or medicine from Egypt, as long as they are limited to civilians in the south of the Gaza Strip and don’t go to Hamas terrorists. The statement made no mention of fuel, which is badly needed for hospital generators.

With inputs from agencies