US praises supplies to Gaza and calls on parties to maintain an open Rafah crossing

The United States encouraged all parties to maintain the Rafah gate open on Saturday and welcomed the arrival of Egyptian assistance trucks in the Gaza Strip, which is still in the midst of a battle.

President Joe Biden stated in a statement that “days of diplomatic engagement at the highest levels culminated in the opening of this essential supply route.”
“I made it clear from the outset of this crisis — in both my public statements and private conversations — that humanitarian assistance was a critical and urgent need that had to get moving,” he said.

Prior to this, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pleaded with “all parties to keep the Rafah crossing open to enable the continued movement of aid that is imperative to the welfare of the people of Gaza.”

Twenty trucks from the Egyptian Red Crescent, which is in charge of transporting relief from several UN organizations, passed through the Rafah border crossing from Egypt into Gaza on Saturday, as reported by AFP journalists.

“We have been clear: Hamas must not interfere with the provision of this life-saving assistance,” Blinken said. “Palestinian civilians are not responsible for Hamas’s horrific terrorism, and they should not be made to suffer for its depraved acts.”

Following days of tough discussions and an agreement struck by Biden with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during Biden’s visit to Israel earlier this week, the supply channel was opened.

The delivery on Saturday was the first of its kind since Israel and Hamas, the Islamist terrorist group that controls the 2.4 million-person Palestinian enclave, started fighting two weeks ago.

Israeli authorities claim that on October 7, Hamas terrorists surged into Israel from Gaza and murdered at least 1,400 people, the majority of them were civilians who were shot, tortured, or burnt to death on the first day of the operation.

According to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, over 4,300 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have died as a result of Israel’s unremitting bombing since that time.

According to its commitments under international humanitarian law, the United States would “continue working to protect civilians,” according to Biden.

He continued by saying that US diplomatic efforts were still being made to ensure the safe exit of Americans living in Gaza and their close relatives.