Rafah crossing border – Courtesy of Flickr/ Gigi Ibrahim
CAIRO - 7 June 2020: Egyptian authorities on Sunday continued opening the Rafah border crossing for the 22nd consecutive day to allow stranded Palestinians and humanitarian cases on both sides to cross.
Medical and administrative teams are stationed for facilitating the passage of the injured to hospitals for treatment, said official sources at the crossing.
Egypt had exceptionally opened the crossing on May 16 to enable people stranded on the two sides to cross and to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza residents, the sources added.
As per Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s directives, Egyptian engineering equipment and staff has crossed to the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing, Extra News reported on 4 June.
This comes within the framework of the Egyptian efforts to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian citizen in the strip, restore the normal life of people in Gaza and start the reconstruction process.
It is also part of the Egyptian commitment announced by Sisi to quickly improve the living conditions of the Gaza dwellers.
On May 7, clashes began between Israeli forces in the West Bank and Jerusalem and civilians as the latter were protesting forced displacement, particularly from Sheikh Jarrah in Eastern Jerusalem, and assaults on worshippers in Al Aqsa Mosque. And, on May 10-20, Israel shelled and carried out airstrikes against Gaza Strip. The violence and aggression across Palestinian territories incurred 243 deaths, including 66 children, and 6,039 injuries, as reported by the Palestinian News and Information Agency (WAFA).
In Gaza Strip where most deaths occurred, injuries stood at 1,910. In the West Bank, 441 Palestinian protesters were shot with live rounds, and 172 were shot with rubber-coated bullets among other injuries caused by tear gas, and beating up. As for Palestinians who got detained in Jerusalem and the West Bank, the figure is 850.
The strikes also caused the destruction of more than 2,000 residential units in Gaza Strip while 15,000 others were partially damaged, according to AP. As a consequence, 50,000 Palestinians fled from the North to the South of Gaza Strip.
Last week, Head of the Egyptian Holding Company for Biological Products and Vaccines (VACSERA) Heba Waly said that the manufacture of China’s Sinovac vaccine in Egypt will take between 8 to 16 weeks.
“We are racing against time to finish our work, as the manufacturing process will start within the current month” Waly said, adding that by the end of this year, VACSERA aims to produce 40 million doses of the vaccine.
Minister of Health Hala Zayed also said earlier that Egypt’s administration gives special interest in locally manufacturing the coronavirus vaccine.
Egypt plans to make Egypt a regional hub for producing the vaccine in Africa after meeting the local needs, as the Egyptian Holding Company for Biological Products and Vaccines (VACSERA) would be the main manufacturer to the Chinese Sinovac in Africa, Zayed said while receiving Chinese experts from Sinovac at VACSERA HQ.
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