Al-Arish, Oct. 19, (dpa/GNA) – Dozens of Egyptians are holding a sit-in protest outside Egypt’s only border crossing with the Gaza Strip and have vowed to continue until the checkpoint reopens to deliver aid to the enclave, an Egyptian Red Crescent source said on Thursday.
The protesters are mostly natives from Sinai and drivers of aid trucks that have lined up outside the Rafah border crossing for days, the source added on condition of anonymity.
They are determined to go on with the sit-in which started Wednesday night until the crossing reopens and the nearly 165 aid trucks get access to the impoverished Gaza Strip.
US President Joe Biden said Wednesday that Egyptian President Abdel-Fatah al-Sissi had agreed to open the crossing to allow humanitarian assistance to Gaza.
Biden said that, in a phone call with al-Sissi, the two agreed to “let up to 20 trucks through to begin with.”
Rafah is the only border crossing into the Gaza Strip that is not controlled by Israel. The crossing is closed due to Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, which officials there say have killed at least 3,785.
The Israeli bombardment came after hundreds of Islamist militants crossed the border from Gaza into Israel in a surprise, large-scale attack on October 7 that targeted civilian communities and a music festival. Over 1,400 died.
Israel has also imposed a tight blockade on Gaza and stopped the entry of food, medicines and fuel, prompting dire warnings about the conditions faced by civilians in the heavily populated territory.
GNA