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US Pressures Egypt to Reopen Rafah Aid Crossing After It Halts Humanitarian Deliveries
Egyptian trucks carrying humanitarian aid make their way to the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, at the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Israel, May 30, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
The US is hosting a trilateral meeting between itself, Israel, and Egypt next week to pressure the Egyptian government to reopen the Rafah crossing to humanitarian aid.
Egypt closed the crossing — which is on the border between Egypt and Gaza — on May 7, when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) took control of its Gaza side. Egypt said it would not reopen the crossing until the Palestinians controlled it again.
The reason for Egypt’s closure is that it did not want to be perceived as helping the IDF with its military offensive in Rafah, the southernmost Gaza city and the Hamas terror group’s last major stronghold in the Palestinian enclave.
But that has meant no humanitarian aid has been able to get into Gaza from Egypt through the crossing since the closure. On Sunday, Egypt resumed deliveries from the Kerem Shalom crossing it jointly has with Israel.
The US will have a meeting with Israel and Egypt next week to discuss reopening the Rafah crossing, according to Axios. US President Joe Biden reportedly told Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi that if the delivery of aid trucks wasn’t resumed, the US would publicly criticize Egypt for it.
Since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7 of last year, the US has viewed Egypt as a crucial partner for negotiating hostage and ceasefire deals and the “day after,” when the fighting ends.
But the move to close the Rafah crossing, a key route for humanitarian aid into Gaza, has conflicted with Biden’s goal of increasing the amount of aid given to Palestinian civilians. Biden administration officials have harshly criticized Israel for in their view not doing enough to allow aid to be delivered to the Hamas-ruled enclave, but has not spoken out against Egypt’s actions.
Axios noted that, during a call in the lead-up to next week’s meeting, Sisi agreed to Biden’s request to resume the flow of aid trucks into Gaza through Israel.
When it opens, Israeli troops will leave the crossing, and an international body or, temporarily, Palestinians unaffiliated with Hamas will control it, according to a report in the Times of Israel.
The Egypt-Gaza border has become a significant point of contention since Israel took it over earlier this month. On Monday, Egyptian soldiers opened fire on the IDF, who then returned fire and killed two Egyptian troops. Egypt has, at times, threatened to pull out of its peace agreement with Israel if tensions continue to escalate and if Israel encroaches on Egypt in certain ways.
There have also been significant issues with delivering aid to Palestinians throughout the war. Israeli estimates suggest approximately 60 percent of the aid that has gone into Gaza has been stolen — either by Hamas or other groups and individuals. Oftentimes, that aid is then sold to the population at high prices, making it difficult to impossible for most Gazans to gain access to it.
According to Ehud Yaari, an expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Hamas has made more than $500 million in profit from selling humanitarian aid since Oct. 7.
The post US Pressures Egypt to Reopen Rafah Aid Crossing After It Halts Humanitarian Deliveries first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.