AL-ARISCH/GENEVA (dpa-AFX) – Humanitarian aid supplies for more than two million people in the Gaza Strip remain stuck in Egypt. The reason is the conditions that have been placed on the opening of the border post and the forwarding to those in need, said UN Secretary General António Guterres on Friday directly in front of the Rafah border crossing on the Egyptian side. “We need to get these trucks moving as quickly as possible, and as many as possible,” he said. He appealed to all sides to take a humanitarian pause in fighting.
Guterres named Israel, Egypt and the USA. Negotiations are now in full swing to restrict conditions so that the fully loaded trucks parked at the border can drive into the Gaza Strip. Among other things, Guterres mentioned verification processes – both sides probably want checks to ensure that nothing other than humanitarian aid is brought across the border on the trucks.
“Behind these walls we have two million people who are suffering enormously,” said Guterres. “They have no water, no food, no medicine, no fuel, they are being shot at. (…) And on this side are the trucks (…) with exactly the things that are needed on the other side,” he said. “These trucks make the difference between life and death for so many people in the Gaza Strip.”/oe/DP/ngu