Blinken urges Egypt to ensure aid is flowing into Gaza

Fighting near the crossing has made providing assistance challenging, but aid could still be getting through, Blinken said, an apparent reference to the Kerem Shalom crossing near Rafah that has been open.

“So we need to find a way to make sure that the assistance that would go through Rafah can get through safely, but we do strongly urge our Egyptian partners to do everything that they can on their end of things to make sure that assistance is flowing,” Blinken said.

Israel is retaliating against Hamas in Gaza – an enclave of 2.3 million people – over a brutal October 7 attack by the Palestinian militants. Aid access into southern Gaza has been disrupted since Israel stepped up military operations in Rafah, a move that the UN says has forced 900,000 people to flee and has raised tensions with Egypt.

Egyptian security sources say Egypt opposes Israel’s presence at the Rafah crossing and wants it to withdraw.

Egypt’s foreign minister said on Monday that the Israeli military presence and operations put truck drivers in danger, which has led to the cessation of aid crossing the border.

Israel’s strategic affairs minister, Ron Dermer, told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” the hold-up was Egypt’s fault.

“Right now, Egypt is withholding 2,000 trucks of humanitarian assistance from going into Gaza because they have a political issue about the Rafah crossing,” Dermer said.

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