Cairo says the Rafah crossing, a potentially vital opening for
desperately-needed supplies into the besieged Palestinian
enclave, is not officially closed but is inoperable due to
Israeli air strikes on the Gaza side.
"There is an urgent need to alleviate the suffering of
Palestinian civilians in Gaza," Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh
Shoukry told reporters, adding that talks with Israel had not
been fruitful.
"Until now the Israeli government has not taken a position on
opening the Rafah crossing from the Gaza side to allow the
entrance of assistance and exit of citizens of third countries."
More than 2 million Gazans have been under siege since Israel
launched an intense bombardment and blockade in retaliation for
an assault by the Hamas Islamist militants.
Two Egyptian security sources had told Reuters a ceasefire in
southern Gaza to last several hours had been agreed for Monday
morning to facilitate aid and evacuations at Rafah.
However, Israel denied that.
"There is currently no truce and humanitarian aid in Gaza in
exchange for getting foreigners out," a statement from Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said.
Hamas official Izzat El-Reshiq told Reuters the same.
On the ground at Rafah, one source said that there had been no
bombardments on Monday and that the Egyptian side of the
crossing was ready. Shoukry said Egypt aimed to allow normal
flow through the crossing, including for Palestinians seeking
medical treatment or normal travel.
Hundreds of tons of aid from NGOs and several countries were
waiting on trucks in the nearby Egyptian town of Al-Arish for
conditions to allow entry to Gaza, according to two sources
there and a witness.
Separately, Reuters video showed U.N.-flagged fuel trucks
appearing to leave Gaza for Egypt through the Israeli-controlled
Kerem Shalom crossing.
(Reporting by Ahmed Mohamed Hassan in Cairo, Dan Williams in
Jerusalem, Yusri Mohamed in Ismailia, Nidal Al Mughrabi in Gaza,
Nadine Awadalla and Tala Ramadan in Dubai; Additional reporting
by Aidan Lewis in Cairo; writing by Nafisa Eltahir; Editing by
Jacqueline Wong, Toby Chopra and Andrew Cawthorne)
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