A convoy of around 200 vehicles headed to the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom and Al Auja crossings for inspection before entering the territory.
An undetermined number of trucks loaded with food, medical and hygiene products returned to the Egyptian side of the border after the Defense Forces (IDF) bombed the area of , in the south of , an Egyptian Red Crescent source told EFE on Sunday. “Most of the trucks returned,” the source said, without specifying the number of vehicles that returned to Egypt, hours after a convoy of around 200 trucks headed to the Kerem Shalom and Al Auja crossings, controlled by Israel, for inspection before entering Gaza, while the Rafah border crossing, which directly connects the African country to the Strip, remains closed.
According to this source, “the entry of trucks was temporarily suspended” after the IDF today bombed Gaza militiamen in the Rafah area (south of Gaza and under Israeli military rule) in response to the “launch of an anti-tank missile and firing at troops” in the area.
In this sense, a source on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing informed EFE that the crossing will not be opened today and that Israel is keeping it closed on the Gaza side.
With this closure, the opening of the Rafah crossing scheduled for tomorrow, Monday, will not take place, as the Palestinian embassy in Cairo announced yesterday in a statement and the WHO confirmed to the Israeli newspaper “Haaretz”, although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later insisted that the crossing will remain closed “until further notice”.
Netanyahu, according to his office, highlighted that the opening of the border crossing, contemplated in the ceasefire agreement, “will be considered depending on how Hamas fulfills its part, returning those kidnapped and implementing the agreed framework”, in reference above all to what he considers as Hamas’ delay in handing over the bodies of Israeli hostages.
*With information from EFE
Published by Fernando Dias
