Israel blocks humanitarian aid to Gaza, violates international law

CAIRO - 13 January 2024: Since the first moments of the Israeli occupation forces' aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, by land, sea and air, "Tel Aviv" imposed a humanitarian blockade on the Strip and prevented water, food, medicine, electricity and all means of communication. It also prevented the arrival of essential materials for survival for 2.2 million people, half of them children.

The Netanyahu government, since the seventh day of October 2023, has deliberately deepened the suffering of civilians in Gaza by refusing to restore the flow of water and electricity, deliver medicine and food, and prevent the arrival of fuel shipments. International and humanitarian laws consider deliberately obstructing the delivery of humanitarian aid a war crime because it collectively punishes civilians.

On October 18, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that he would not allow the entry of any humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip without imposing conditions on the Palestinian factions. Dozens of trucks and convoys of supplies piled up at the Rafah crossing with no hope of entering the besieged Gaza Strip.

The Geneva Conventions oblige Israel, as an occupying power in Gaza, to ensure that civilians have access to essential materials, and as a party to an armed conflict, to facilitate the passage of humanitarian aid. However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly stated, "We will not allow humanitarian aid from food and medicine from our land to enter the Gaza Strip."

Despite the fact that the residents of the Strip are currently living in extremely harsh conditions where they live in the open and do not have any clothing or blankets to protect them from the cold winter weather, which makes life almost impossible for hundreds of thousands of displaced people in the Strip who were forced to leave their homes months ago, leaving behind all their belongings, due to the continuous shelling and bombing for nearly 100 days, which left about 24 martyrs, 70% of whom were women and children, and resulted in 60,000 injuries, in addition to the presence of more than 7,000 missing, Israel is evading all of this before the International Court of Justice, and is accusing Egypt, which opened its doors and designated El-Arish airport to receive aid to be introduced into the Strip through the Rafah crossing, which has not been closed for a minute since the first moments of the outbreak of the war, according to the Egyptian government.

It is known that the Rafah land crossing is located south of the Gaza Strip, in the southernmost part of Rafah Governorate between the city of Rafah and Shuqa Al-Sufi, and on the western side of Palestine between the Palestinian-Egyptian borders.

The Rafah land crossing has two gates, not one as is commonly believed. The first gate is under the control of Egypt, while the second gate (about 300 meters away from the first) is under the control of Gaza (Hamas government), until Israel now controls it and prevents the entry of aid through it.

Since the crossing has two gates, one from the Egyptian side and the other from the Palestinian side, and the Israeli occupation forces now control them, it is obvious that crossing the Rafah crossing from the Egyptian side does not necessarily mean reaching the Gaza Strip.

It is possible for Cairo to declare on its side that it is allowed to enter the crossing through the gate on the Egyptian side, but the Israeli side must agree to enter from its side, and vice versa. Therefore, Egypt was negotiating the exit of dual nationals in exchange for the entry of aid to the Gaza Strip.