President Sisi: Rafah border crossing has never be closed during Israeli war on Gaza

CAIRO – 23 November 2023: The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza has never closed during the Israeli war on Gaza and will not close, said President Abdel Fattah El Sisi during “Long Live Egypt and Palestine” Conference on Thursday evening at the Cairo Stadium.

“Egypt was keen to fulfill its responsibility towards the Palestinian brothers,” said the President, adding “We seek to deliver the largest amounts of humanitarian aid to relieve the suffering of more than 2 million Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip. He affirmed that most of the humanitarian aid to the Palestinians is provided by Egypt.

The President also gave the orders to a new aid convoy to the Gaza Strip.

Two additional fuel trucks entered Gaza Strip Wednesday through Rafah Border Crossing making the total 15 since the beginning of the crisis. Minister of Social Solidarity Nevine al-Qabaj stated Tuesday that 14,500 tons of aid had been delivered to Gaza Strip through Rafah Border Crossing, including 11,500 tons granted by Egyptian entities.

Also, the Palestine embassy in Cairo announced that the Palestinian nationals, who are stranded in the North Sinai due to the Israeli War on the Gaza Strip, can voluntarily return to the Strip starting from Friday, November 24, after reaching a four-day truce between Hamas and Israel.

The Egyptian authorities confirmed that the remaining stranded people in Cairo and the rest of the governorates Egypt will be allowed to return voluntarily from Saturday, November 25, the embassy added in a statement.

The Egyptian/Qatari-brokered truce between Hamas and Israel will come into effect on Friday at 7:00 a.m., announced Egyptian senior officials, Qatari Foreign Ministry Spokesman in a press conference and Hamas in a statement on Thursday.

Egypt has received lists of detainees and prisoners from both the Palestinian and Israeli sides, who are scheduled to be released on the first day, said Head of the State Information Service Diaa Rashwan.

Thirteen Palestinian prisoners (women and minors under the age of 19) will be released on the first day of the 4-day truce at 4:00 p.m., while Hamas will release 13 Israeli female and minor captives.

Three Palestinian prisoners, including women and children, will be released for every one Israeli captive. Also, within the four-day truce, 50 Israeli captives (women and children under the age of 19) will be released.

The truce will last for 4 days, starting on Friday morning, accompanied by a cessation of all military actions by the Qassam Brigades, Other Palestinian fighters, and the Zionist enemy over the period of the truce. Israeli aircraft will stop flying completely over the southern Gaza Strip during the truce.

Israeli aircraft will stop flying for 6 hours a day, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., in Gaza City and the north of the strip during the period of the truce.

As for the humanitarian aid, a total of 200 trucks of relief and medical supplies will enter daily to all areas of the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, 4 trucks of fuel and cooking gas will enter daily to all areas of the Gaza Strip.

During the truce, the locations of more Israeli captives held by different Palestinian factions other than Hamas will be determined to extend the truce, said the Qatari Foreign Ministry.

“We look very positively at the commitment of both parties to the terms of the truce and prison swap agreement,” said Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari in the press conference.

“Our primary goal is the security and safety of the captives, and the way of their release cannot be revealed […] We hope that this humanitarian truce will lead to achieving a permanent truce and lasting peace,” he added.

Ansari said that relaunching hostile acts in Gaza would be considered a violation of the truce, continuing “We will maintain communication with all parties to ensure that an appropriate and safe environment is created for the release of the captives.”