RHINELAND-PALATINATE, Germany: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has agreed to open the Rafah crossing into Gaza to permit a primary batch of round 20 humanitarian support vans by way of, US President Joe Biden mentioned on Wednesday (Oct 18).
“He agreed to … let as much as 20 vans by way of, to start with,” Biden informed reporters after calling Sisi from Air Pressure One whereas getting back from a go to to Israel, the place he was displaying solidarity over the Oct 7 Hamas assaults.
The cargo would seemingly not cross till Friday, because the street on the crossing wanted repairs, Biden mentioned.
“They’ll patch the street. They need to fill in potholes to get these vans by way of. And that is going to happen – they count on it’s going to take about eight hours tomorrow,” he mentioned.
The primary 20 vans can be a take a look at of a system for distributing support with out permitting the Palestinian militant organisation Hamas, which controls Gaza, to profit, the US president mentioned.
The United Nations is set to distribute aid on the Gaza aspect of the border.
“If Hamas confiscates it or does not let it get by way of or simply confiscates it, then it is going to finish as a result of we’re not going to be sending any humanitarian support to Hamas if they’ll be confiscating it. That is the dedication that I’ve made,” Biden mentioned.
He added that the 20 vans represented a “first tranche”, however “150 or one thing” vans are ready in complete. Whether or not the remainder are allowed to cross will rely on “the way it goes”.
