Why's the Only Available Checkpoint to Gaza Still Closed?

As the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip deepens, with food, fuel and water running short, humanitarian aid from several countries has been held up in Egypt pending a deal for its safe delivery to Gaza and the evacuation of some foreign passport holders through the Rafah border crossing. According to the UN, fuel reserves at all hospitals across the enclave are expected to last for about an additional 24 hours.

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office stated that there was no truce for humanitarian aid to Gaza in exchange for getting foreigners out.

The international community has repeatedly requested that Israeli officials open 'safe corridors' for Gaza residents. On Sunday, the IDF officially announced the opening of an evacuation corridor from northern part of Gaza to the southern area. Simultaneously, UN Secretary-General Guterres appealed to Hamas to grant “unimpeded access for humanitarian aid” into the Gaza Strip and to immediately release all hostages. However, Israel refused to allow humanitarian cargo to enter the enclave.

How can the humanitarian aid enter the Gaza Strip now and what are the positions of Israel, Palestine and Egypt on the matter? Sputnik tried to find the answers.

What's the Problem With the Checkpoints?

There were only three checkpoints available to exit the Gaza Strip: Erez and Kerem Shalom to Israel and Rafah to Egypt.

The first one, Erez, was situated in the northern border from Gaza to Israel, worked exclusively to let people go through and was completely destroyed during Hamas' sneak attack on southern Israel on October 7. The same fate befell Kerem Shalom, the second checkpoint on that ominous morning - which was the only one that allowed all large cargo to enter Gaza, because of the economic blockade that Israel had imposed on the Gaza Strip under Hamas rule in 2007. For now, only the Rafah checkpoint to Egypt is available for operation, but the situation at the crossing remains unclear.

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Recently, Egypt closed the checkpoint because it has been shelled by the Israeli Army since last week. Meanwhile, both the Palestine Red Crescent Society is waiting for the Rafah checkpoint to officially open, Palestinian Red Crescent representative Neebal Farsakh told Sputnik.

“Until now, the Red Crescent has not been informed about the opening of the Rafah checkpoint for humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. Although we are the ones responsible for humanitarian aid delivering, we continue to wait for official notification of the opening of the checkpoint, so that our crews can safely reach, bring and distribute aid to those affected,” Farsakh told Sputnik.

While the Rafah checkpoint is still closed, Egypt is collecting humanitarian aid at El-Arish airport, since not only Egypt, but also Jordan, the UAE, Qatar and Turkiye are sending aid, Director of the Middle East Forum for Strategic Studies Samir Ghattas told Sputnik.

“Then the aid will be sent to the Rafah checkpoint. On Sunday, Egypt had already deployed a long convoy of vehicles with humanitarian aid, including food, medicine and essentials. However, Israel did not allow the cargo to pass through, and fired at the checkpoint. The Israeli side then announced that it would not allow any ground assistance from Egypt or any other country to enter,” he added.

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What is Israel's Stance?

In turn, Israeli officials are not going to let humanitarian aid into the enclave, since they cannot check what exactly is being carried in the trucks from Egypt. Such a precedent was posted by Israeli journalist Yossi Eli on his Twitter account, claiming that the Israeli Special Forces found a sack of rice filled with bullets.

Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz stated on Monday that he was “categorically against the opening of the blockade and the import of goods into the Gaza Strip for humanitarian reasons”.

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What is Egypt's Stance?

As per Samir Ghattas, Egypt is not interested in the full opening of the Rafah checkpoint. Cairo is not ready to let refugees in, but is going to pressure Israel on the humanitarian aid issue.

“Originally, American and Swedish passport holders were supposed to leave the Gaza Strip, and they were actually waiting at the border at a specified time yesterday. But Egypt announced that foreigners, regardless of their nationality, would not be able to enter Egypt unless Israel allowed humanitarian aid convoys into Gaza. So Israel refused,” the Director of the Middle East Forum for Strategic Studies said.

According to him, Israel is pushing the Palestinians to leave Gaza and go to Sinai, as far as the Israelis are ready to allow them to leave, but they refuse to hand over humanitarian aid.

“Cairo believes that the Palestinians should stay and hold on to their lands rather than become refugees who would turn the Sinai Peninsula into one big refugee camp, as it previously happened in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan,” he highlighted.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said on Thursday that Gaza residents must “stay steadfast and remain on their land”.

So far, dozens of trucks with humanitarian aid for Gaza are still waiting near the Rafah checkpoint on the Egyptian side, as far as Cairo waits for approval and security guarantees from Israel to enter the enclave.