In call with Biden, Egypt’s Sissi agrees to release Gaza aid via Israel amid continued Rafah closure
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi agreed with US President Joe Biden by phone on Friday to temporarily send humanitarian aid and fuel to the United Nations via Israel’s Kerem Shalom crossing until legal mechanisms are in place to reopen the Rafah Border Crossing from the Palestinian side, the Egyptian presidency announces.
The announcement is a win for the Biden administration, which has been pressuring Egypt in recent days to take this step.
Aid has been piling up in Egypt since Israel launched an operation to take over the Gaza side of the Rafah Border Crossing with Egypt on May 7.
Not wanting to be seen as complicit with Israel’s occupation of the gate, Egypt has refused to re-open Rafah until Israeli troops have withdrawn from the other side.
In the meantime, the US and Israel have urged Cairo to at least allow the growing amount of aid in Egypt to be transferred to Israel where it can be delivered into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom Crossing.
Egypt had to date refused, still deeming such a move as collaboration with Israel’s military offensive in the southern Gaza city.
The stance has led to rare criticism from the Biden administration, which had until this week only offered praise of Egypt’s role in the war — both as a mediator and as a facilitator of aid.
In an effort to break the impasse earlier this month, Israel quietly asked the Palestinian Authority to take over the Gaza side of the Rafah Crossing instead of Hamas.
But Israel conditioned the offer on officers not identifying themselves as part of the PA due to fears that this would spark opposition from far-right members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, a US official told The Times of Israel. The offer was rejected by Ramallah, which said it would not comply unless Israel agreed to establish a pathway to a future Palestinian state — a non-starter for the hardline government in Jerusalem, the US official added.
Since that rejection, Israel and Egypt have been in talks about having Palestinians not directly affiliated with Hamas or the PA running the Rafah Crossing with assistance from international organizations, the US official said.
