A truck is returning from the border. It is empty. The driver honks as he passes his colleagues waiting in a line in the opposite direction. It is a line that stretches for kilometers. Numerous trucks loaded with humanitarian aid are waiting in Rafah on the Egyptian side of the border. Many of them bear the logo of the World Food Programme, which operates under the auspices of the United Nations. Among them are trucks from NGOs such as the World Central Kitchen.
Driver Mohamed Abulmathi tells us what he has loaded into his truck: “Rice and sugar, beans, cans of tuna, yogurt, milk and lentils.” The 51-year-old has been standing there for two days, and he can’t wait to finally cross the border. “Can’t you see my face is beaming?” he asks us.
Unique job
Delivering aid to Gaza is no ordinary job for Egyptian truck drivers. They see it as a service in which they help their Palestinian brothers on the other side of the border – as one young driver puts it. His name is Mohamed: “All Egyptians are happy with the people in Gaza, because they won’t be bombed anymore. No one can be happy about this destruction or when innocent children are killed.”
The drivers are not actually delivering their cargo directly to the Gaza Strip, as the Rafah border crossing, which connects Egypt to the Palestinian territories, remains closed to them.
Numerous controls
Trucks in Rafah must first pass through a side entrance at the border. They are then directed to the nearby Kerem Shalom border crossing on the Israeli side. There, the trucks are thoroughly inspected. This is done by members of the Israeli army. They check whether it is really just humanitarian aid or whether there are weapons among the blankets? After the inspection, the shipment is unloaded, and the goods are then finally taken over by other drivers on the Palestinian side.
There are numerous trucks in Rafah carrying food supplies. Others are transporting blankets or makeshift shelters for people who have been left homeless. There are also trucks carrying fuel needed to keep water pumps in Gaza running.
How many trucks are arriving?
According to the Egyptian government, more than 200 trucks of humanitarian aid arrived in the Palestinian territory on the first day after the ceasefire came into effect. Foreign Minister Badr Abdel-Lati announced that Egypt would do whatever was necessary to help the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, in cooperation with the international community.
The shipments that arrived during the first day of the ceasefire are, as the head of Egyptian diplomacy says, just the beginning: "It has been agreed that 600 trucks will leave for the Gaza Strip every day, including 50 transporting fuel. We hope that 300 trucks will be provided for the northern part of the Gaza Strip, because that area has been very badly affected and the situation there is much worse and more catastrophic than in other parts of the Gaza Strip."
Meanwhile, at the crossing, another truck is returning from the border after delivering its cargo. In Kerem Shalom, it has left humanitarian aid that should soon reach the people in the Gaza Strip. The driver, Ahmed, tells us: "We are happy to be able to deliver food and drinks to these people."
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