Families of hostages slam Israel’s decision to allow aid to Gaza via Egypt

Egypt announced a 'sustainable' passage of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing, as hundreds of aid trucks wait

Tel Aviv: As Egyptian President Al-Sisi, the US and Israel agreed to allow humanitarian aid to transfer into the Gaza territory via Egypt, family members of the Israelis being held captive by the Hamas terror group expressed anger on the decision, The Times of Israel reported on Thursday.

According to Israeli newspaper, ‘Bring Them Home Now’ organisation formed to represent families of those kidnapped said in a statement, “The decision to allow humanitarian aid to the murderers of Gaza has caused great anger among the family members.”

---

“We remind you that children, babies, women, soldiers, men and the elderly — some of whom have serious health issues, are wounded and shot — are being held underground like animals without any human conditions, and the government of Israel is treating the murderers to baklava and medicine,” the group said.

Egypt announced a ‘sustainable’ passage of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing, as hundreds of aid trucks wait at the gates of the enclave.

“Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi and American President Joe Biden have agreed on the sustainable delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip via the Rafah terminal,” said presidential spokesperson Ahmed Fahmy in a statement, without specifying a date.

Earlier, US President Joe Biden said that Egypt’s President Al-Sisi has agreed to open the Rafah border crossing to allow roughly 20 trucks to provide humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Aboard Air Force One, Biden told reporters that when he took off for Israel, his key goal was to get humanitarian aid into Gaza and ensure there is a vehicle, a mechanism for it to happen quickly.

“And so, I have been on the phone for the last — I don’t know. We’ve been on the ground a while. That’s why we haven’t taken off — with El-Sisi. I don’t think I was on that long. It was about probably half an hour. And both — my team here was with me. And he agreed that what he would do is open the gate — to do two things: one, let up to 20 trucks through to begin with. Satterfield, my ambassador, is down there in — not down there — in Cairo now. He’s going to coordinate this. He has my authority to do what is needed to get it done,” Biden said in a press gaggle on board Air Force 1 at Ramstein base, Germany.

“When we took off, my goal was multifold, but basically to get humanitarian aid into Gaza and to get as many Americans out who wanted to get out — could get out as possible. And so, we got a commitment, as you know, from the — from the Israelis, including the unanimous vote of their war cabinet and the Prime Minister. And the second thing was that I wanted to make sure there was a vehicle, a mechanism, that this could happen quickly,” the US President said.

On being asked if he was talking about Rafah crossing, Biden responded by saying “yes”, and added, “They’re going to patch the road. They have to fill in potholes to get these trucks through. And that’s going to occur; they expect it’ll take about eight hours tomorrow. So, there may be nothing rolling through until — what’s today? I’m losing track of days. Thursday? Wednesday? Probably until Friday.

“He was further asked by reporters if Sisi agreed to open it up, to which the President said, “Yes. For this purpose. For this purpose. Not to allow a lot of people out, but to open it up for this purpose…for the trucks to be able to get through.”