Egyptian minister demands easing rules of aid delivery to Gaza, financial resources

CAIRO – 17 January 2024: Minister of Social Solidarity Nevine al-Qabbaj received Tuesday UN Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza Sigrid Kaag.

The minister demanded exerting pressure on the Israeli side to solve many problems that include the frequent change in the rules of allowing in aid trucks, inspection of the vehicles in multiple crossings located away from each other, and recurrent loading and unloading of shipments. As a consequence, it takes trucks up to 20 days to enter.  

Further, some dual-use goods are banned in spite of their medical and vital importance. Those include oxygen cylinders, oxygen generators, solar-power items, water disinfectants, ventilators, certain medical supplies, and metals used in tents.

The minister also demanded increasing the size of aid delivered to Gaza as the shipments that enter barely suffice 30-40 percent of residents. She equally urged that each truck had to be filled by 90-100 percent instead of just the 50 percent mandated by the Israeli occupation.  

The UN coordinator pledged to examine ways of mediation to ease the measures pertinent to aid delivery. She also called for creating a unified platform to exchange data on aid, and that would include major entities involved such as the United Nations, Red Crescent, Red Cross, international NGOs, NGOs, firms, and the private sector.  

Minister Qabbaj similarly demanded securing financial resources to Egypt given the costs it bears to deliver aid to Gaza. The country has also received 400,000 Sudanese since the outbreak of the insurgence in April 2023, and hosts nine million refugees and asylum seekers, she underscored.