The Egyptian authorities are scheduled to carry out repairs to the Rafah crossing road on Thursday, in preparation for the transfer of aid to the Gaza Strip, after US President Joe Biden announced agreement with the Egyptian and Israeli sides on this step.
Biden told reporters aboard Air Force One on Wednesday evening, returning from a visit to Israel, that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi had agreed to allow up to 20 trucks to pass initially.
He said the trucks were unlikely to cross until Friday because the road around the crossing needed repairs.
"They have to fill the potholes so that these trucks can pass," Biden said, noting that the road will be repaired on Thursday, and it will take about 8 hours, he said.
The US president explained that the United Nations will distribute this aid inside the Gaza Strip, and that the entry of a second batch depends on the progress of things.
"We want to bring in as many trucks as possible," he said. I think there are about 150 trucks."
Biden warned Hamas that "it's going to be over" if it seizes aid or blocks its transit.
Biden made clear only 20 trucks would cross into Gaza in the first phase (AP)
On the other hand, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, said during a meeting of the Security Council on Wednesday that the organization seeks to bring 100 aid trucks a day into Gaza, as was the case before the outbreak of the current confrontation.
The Israeli occupation army has bombed the Rafah crossing several times since the start of the Al-Aqsa Flood battle, which was launched by the Palestinian resistance on the seventh of October, in conjunction with cutting off the supply of food, water, electricity and fuel to the Gaza Strip.
According to what the Egyptian presidency announced on Wednesday, Sisi and Biden agreed to bring aid into Gaza through the Rafah crossing "in a sustainable manner," with the concerned authorities in the two countries coordinating with humanitarian organizations, under the supervision of the United Nations, to secure the arrival of aid.
Washington is also calling on the Egyptian authorities to allow holders of foreign passports, especially Americans, to leave the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing.
"We're going to get people out" out of the Strip, Biden said, without elaborating.
The US president said he spoke with his Egyptian counterpart for about half an hour, praising him for his "full cooperation" and saying he "deserves a lot of appreciation."
Dozens of trucks loaded with international aid have been waiting in Egypt for days to enter Gaza. Egypt has stated that the crossing was not in fact closed, but it was inoperable due to Israeli shelling.
On the Israeli side, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said during Biden's visit yesterday that Israel would allow the delivery of food, water and medicine to southern Gaza through the Rafah crossing.
Mark Regev, an adviser to the Israeli prime minister, told CNN that Israel had agreed "in principle" to allow aid to be delivered to Gaza.