After call with Biden, Egyptian president agrees to restore aid flow to Gaza

(May 24, 2024 / JNS)

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi agreed to restore the flow of aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip during a telephone call with U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday.

Egypt halted U.N. aid deliveries into the southern city of Rafah after the Israeli military took control of the Gazan side of the Egypt-Gaza border. In Friday’s call, el-Sisi agreed to let the aid flow through Israel’s Kerem Shalom crossing near the Egyptian border.

“President Biden welcomed the commitment from President el-Sisi to permit the flow of U.N.-provided humanitarian assistance from Egypt through the Kerem Shalom crossing on a provisional basis for onward distribution throughout Gaza,” the White House stated in its readout of the call. “This will help save lives.”

The Egyptian readout of the call said that the deliveries would consist of “humanitarian aid and fuel” and would continue “temporarily until a legal mechanism is reached to reoperate the Rafah crossing from the Palestinian side.”

Thief,
@Thief@lemmy.myserv.one avatar

News

mlg,
@mlg@lemmy.world avatar

Egypt signed away control of their border as part of their peace agreement with Israel lmao.

Sisi has no jurisdiction, and even if he did Israel already controls the crossing, meaning he’d have to setup a new one and send military power to keep it up.

Of course he’s just a slimy [100 adjective long insult] who sucks [another 100 long adjective insult] so there’s a 0% chance that’ll ever happen.

I’m not even sure why Biden even bothered because everyone already knows this. Unless he thinks he can get Israel to comply somehow.

Viking_Hippie,

I’m not even sure why Biden even bothered because everyone already knows this.

Because a lot of people actually don’t and will likely fall for this brazen PR stunt.

FlowVoid, (edited )

Rafah is the only Gazan border crossing that isn’t controlled by Israel

Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in 1982, which saw the Jewish state withdraw from the Sinai Peninsula that it had captured from Egypt in 1967.

Israel then opened the Rafah crossing, which it controlled until it withdrew from Gaza in 2005. Between then and Hamas’ takeover of Gaza in 2007, the crossing was controlled by the European Union, which worked closely with Egyptian officials.

Between 2005 and 2007, some 450,000 passengers used the crossing with an average of about 1,500 people per day.

The Rafah crossing has since been tightly controlled, with limited access and lengthy bureaucratic and security processes required of Palestinians wishing to cross into Egypt.

Travelers require an exit permit from Hamas and an entry permit from Egypt

bamboo,

Normally this would be correct, but recently Israel took over the Palestine side of the crossing as part of their invasion of Rafah. The first thing they did while taking over was shut down aid deliveries.

FlowVoid, (edited )

That’s true, I was addressing the claim that Egypt lost control of the crossing after their peace deal with Israel.

Israel and Egypt currently share control of the crossing. And until recently, Egypt refused to reopen the crossing. So it’s not accurate to imply that Egypt has no say in what happens, or that Biden’s intervention was irrelevant.

SulaymanF,

That’s still misleading; the treaty gives Israel the right to veto anything through the crossing even if Egypt owns the crossing.

FlowVoid, (edited )

Both sides can restrict a border crossing. This is true of all border crossings, not just the one with Egypt.

So for example Canada could block movement of any or all people or goods through its border with the US, if for some reason it wanted to. The US could do the same. The UK could block the EU, and the EU could block the UK. Ukraine has restricted movement of Ukrainian men through its border with Poland, and Poland at some point restricted the movement of Ukrainian grain. And so on.

SulaymanF,

That’s a lame attempt to misdirect; Israel is blocking aid through the crossing. I don’t care what Canada or other countries do when the outcome is the same. And not just aid; Americans were blocked from fleeing Gaza including doctors and medical volunteers and it required the US State Department to pressure Israel into letting them out.

FlowVoid,

Egypt halted U.N. aid deliveries into the southern city of Rafah

SulaymanF,

According to JNS, which explicitly says in their donation request at the bottom of the article that they’re trying to defend Israel. No bias there right?

Israel seized the crossing in violation of the treaty. Israel blocked aid until the ICJ chastised them, then they said they’d allow aid through despite blocking it, now the US pressured Egypt to accept their loss and treaty violations and ship things anyway.

FlowVoid,

Ok, have another source

Egypt had blocked aid from entering the enclave via its territory since Israel’s seizure of the Rafah crossing

SulaymanF,

Again, like I said above. Israel broke the treaty and seized the crossing. They initially restricted everything and then announced they were opening some of it after international pressure. Egypt then later decided it wasn’t going to play Israel’s game with its seized crossing and didn’t allow stuff to be sent, now they’re relenting on behalf of Palestinians despite the loss of Egyptian property in Israeli theft.

In what way does this make Israel look good in any of this?

FlowVoid,

I’m not trying to make Israel look good.

To quote myself:

Israel and Egypt currently share control of the crossing. And until recently, Egypt refused to reopen the crossing. So it’s not accurate to imply that Egypt has no say in what happens, or that Biden’s intervention was irrelevant.

SulaymanF,

One more time. Israel broke the treaty and seized the crossing. Claiming they share control is not true anymore. Egypt is not going to accept this change or play along and validate Israel annexing more land for themselves and you should stop trying to pretend Egypt shares blame in their victimization.

FlowVoid, (edited )

Israel seized the Gazan side of the crossing from Hamas. That means the crossing used to be shared by Egypt and Hamas, and now it’s shared by Egypt and Israel.

This is not a “treaty violation”. The 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access was between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, not Israel and Egypt. The PA, not Hamas, was authorized to administer the Gazan side of the crossing on behalf of Israel, provided they were supervised by the EU. Hamas has no rights at all under this agreement.

Egypt may prefer its old partner to its new one, but ultimately it has zero say over who administers the Gazan side of the crossing.

At no point did anyone take Egypt’s side of the crossing away from Egypt. And since crossing requires permission from both sides, Egypt can control what goes through the crossing now just as it did before.

SulaymanF,

Still wrong. For someone who claims not to defend Israel, that’s all you seem to do on this sub.

The AMA was a deal between Israel and PA but it does not supersede the 1979 Egypt-Israel treaty. Israel doesn’t care if it violates the AMA because it always broke deals with the PA, but the Egypt treaty is different. Israel seized one side of the crossing but they seized the Egyptian side and even got into a firefight with Egyptian soldiers, in open violation of the original treaty and the Philadelphi Accords.

I’m clearly not going to convince you because your post history is only pedantic defense of Israel. So I’m going to leave it here; Israel broke treaties and international laws and tries to keep the thinnest veneer of deniability when it commits its war crimes, but people are seeing through it more and more despite their sophistry. Peace.

FlowVoid, (edited )

Israel seized one side of the crossing but they seized the Egyptian side

I don’t believe this is true.

All reporting I’ve seen says they seized the Palestinian side.

CNN:

Israeli military says it has captured Palestinian side of Rafah crossing

Guardian:

IDF claims control of Gaza side of Rafah crossing

BBC:

The Israeli military says its troops have taken “operational control” of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt.

electric_nan,

If it’s going through an Israeli checkpoint on the way, it will not reach Gazans. Guaranteed. Same shit happened with the stupid fucking pier. You cannot rely on the perpetrators of genocide to help ameliorate the genocide! This is nothing more than an attempt to soften Biden’s image in regards to supporting this genocide. Only dopes will fall for it.

steal_your_face,
@steal_your_face@lemmy.ml avatar

I don’t think there’s Israeli citizens at this checkpoint to psychically block the aid. The IDF might not let it through, though.

FlowVoid,

First aid from US pier in Gaza has reached starving Palestinians, the UN says.

goferking0,

small amount of biscuits

And i knew it wasn’t going to be a lot though the pier but didn’t realize it was this low

American officials hope the pier at maximum capacity can bring the equivalent of 150 truckloads of aid to Gaza each day. That’s a fraction of the 600 truckloads of food, emergency nutritional treatments and other supplies that USAID says are needed each day to bring people in Gaza back from the start of famine and address the humanitarian crisis brought on by the seven-month-old Israel-Hamas war.

FlowVoid,

Yes, the US said from the beginning that the pier would not be able to supply Gaza by itself. That’s why resuming supply from Egypt is significant.

Pre-invasion, only 500 trucks went into Gaza per day. If the US can provide 150, that’s 30% of the pre-invasion total. It doesn’t solve the problem, but it does ameliorate it.

jonne,

There’s a lot more need than pre-invasion levels. There was local agriculture in Gaza, functional bakeries, a water pipeline, electricity, etc.

Now all of those things need to be trucked in instead.

FlowVoid,

Fair enough. I believe the estimated need is now 600 trucks, so the US can supply up to 25%

electric_nan,

Did you read the article, or just the headline?

FlowVoid,

I read the article. Did you?

The U.S. Agency for International Development told The Associated Press that a total of 41 trucks loaded with aid from the more than $320 million pier have reached humanitarian organizations in Gaza.

electric_nan,

“The U.N. World Food Program said Wednesday that it has handed out in Gaza in recent days a “limited number” of high-energy biscuits that arrived from a U.S.-built pier”

– Ridiculous

“Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder told reporters Tuesday that he did not believe any of the aid from the pier had yet reached people in Gaza. Sullivan said a day later that some aid had been delivered “specifically to the Palestinians who need it.””

– Sounds like the general was reprimanded after his first comment.

“American officials hope the pier at maximum capacity can bring the equivalent of 150 truckloads of aid to Gaza each day. That’s a fraction of the 600 truckloads of food, emergency nutritional treatments and other supplies that USAID says are needed each day”

–Even if this was working at max capacity, which it definitely isn’t, it wouldn’t be nearly enough.

“The WFP had warned this week that the U.S. project could fail unless Israeli authorities gave clearances and cooperation for alternate land routes and better security.

Humanitarian officials and the U.S. say the sea route is not a replacement for bringing aid through land crossings, and they have repeatedly called on Israel to allow a steady large flow of trucks through entry points and to ensure aid workers are safe from the Israeli military.”

:/

FlowVoid, (edited )

So even according to your quotes, food is reaching Gazans. As of Thursday, 1.2 million pounds of aid have been delivered to the pier of which two thirds has been distributed to Gazans.

And even before the pier was built, the US said it could not supply Gaza by itself. The US is trying to ameliorate the problem, not solve it single-handedly. That’s why it’s important that Egypt agreed to open their crossing.

electric_nan,

Of course the US can’t supply the need itself. Sending some energy biscuits that you hope Israel will allow through, is like offering a band aid to someone with a severed femoral artery. The idea that food aid is the solution to this crisis is itself very stupid, especially when the “lethal aid” keeps flowing to Israel, which they use to bomb refugee camps. You think there’s no pleasing me because I’m not satisfied with the food aid. What I am concerned about is stopping the genocide.

FlowVoid,

There are many Gazans who, unlike you, are also concerned about food.

rusticus,

So according to your logic, SOME aid but not enough to cover the COMPLETE need is “ridiculous”.

Is there any color in your world or is everything monochromatic?

electric_nan,

What is ridiculous is that a small number of energy biscuits have made it through. I helpfully broke the quotes and my responses to each section out. Read it again with that in mind.

rusticus,

Black and white worldview confirmed. lol.

electric_nan,

Wow you are so nuanced. Maybe you can explain why Biden has done nothing to stop Israel from massacring people in Palestine? What am I missing that I think it is repugnant to make half-assed gestures towards food aid, while on the other hand continuing to arm the aggressors, condemn any international attempts to prosecute, and order veto of any UN resolution meant to stop the genocide? lol

goferking0,

The WFP had warned this week that the U.S. project could fail unless Israeli authorities gave clearances and cooperation for alternate land routes and better security

Cool cool cool. Totally better than actually getting Israel to let in aid, well done Biden

tsonfeir,
@tsonfeir@lemmy.world avatar

B-B-But Biden does nothing?!

🙄

Maalus,

Yeah, let’s talk when the aid actually reaches the people that need it. And when the trucks comming in will be enough to help all who need it, rather than just a token amount.

tsonfeir,
@tsonfeir@lemmy.world avatar

Average American who misunderstands presidential power limits.

Maalus,

Uh huh, try again. The truth is he only does token gestures, till they actually work out, you can’t claim “he did it boys”. Not after sending so much leathal aid to Israel.

Cryophilia,

What do you want him to do? Send American troops to distribute the aid?

Maalus,

Well, start with not sending weapons to Israel and use the shitload amount of soft power the US has to pressure them to sign a cease fire. Also, could probably be better received if he didn’t repeatedly call himself a zionist and acted accordingly.

Cryophilia,

use the shitload amount of soft power the US has to pressure them to sign a cease fire

Already doing this, at least

Maalus,

So far they parked two carriers right next to Israel to protect them. Where is the soft power being used on Israel?

Cryophilia,

You’ve missed all the times Biden has called for a ceasefire, and all the reports about how Biden has been trying to restrain Netanyahu?

Who am I kidding, of course you did.

Maalus,

And you have missed all the times he said “I am a zionist”. Where is the aid then? Where is the ceasefire? Why are weapons still going to Israel?

Cryophilia,

Aid to Gaza.

The ceasefire is in the hands of Israel. Biden is not King of Israel, he can pressure but he can’t force.

Maalus,

Jfc you don’t know what you are talking about. The pier is a publicity stunt and barely supplies anything, especially because it is built in the zone controlled by Israel. If they aren’t letting in aid through their borders, they aren’t letting it through a shitty pier. I know the situation on the ground from people actually there, you know it from a propaganda web article.

Cryophilia,

Ok so you want Biden to do what? Send in troops? It always comes back to this. The most Biden can do is stop sending arms to Israel, which he’s already done once and will likely do again. Other than that, it’s just trying to convince and pressure the leader of an entirely separate nation to do things he doesn’t want to do.

Maalus,

… If he has “stopped arms going to Israel” then what is there to stop? That’s the issue here - weapons are still going to Israel despite one blocked shipment.

You don’t get the fact that it isn’t “just another nation convincing the other to stop”. This is a superpower that if it wanted, could end all of this in a week. And without sending troops. You don’t want to be on the US’s bad side because sanctions hitting you will basically be crippling to the economy of your country - since nobody will trade with you, since sanctions also hit the countries that trade with said country. There could be asset freezes. There could be consequences.

The issue is - Biden is not willing to do that.

Cryophilia,

This is a superpower that if it wanted, could end all of this in a week. And without sending troops.

Cool because that totally stopped Russia’s genocide in Ukraine right?

There’s only so much the US can do without resorting to force.

And that’s not even considering Biden weighing concerns from pro-Israel voters.

Maalus,

Ah there we go. So sanctions don’t work. What works is threatening ICJ, vetoing and overall having a protective umbrella over Israel which can do no wrong.

Ah yes, the VOTES. Because staying in power is more important than a genocide. Dude give it up. It’s obvious you are an israeli shill

Cryophilia,

I repeat

Ok so you want Biden to do what? Send in troops? It always comes back to this.

Maalus,

I already outlined a couple of avenues to what is possible - i.e. sanction Israel (not a few “settlers”) yet you choose to ignore it and go “oh well we tried, hope the genocide doesn’t hurt you guys too much”

Cryophilia,

So, sanctions. When that doesn’t stop Israel, will you still blame Biden for what Israel does?

Maalus,

Yeah, except that won’t happen ever so fuck Biden for allowing genocide happen. I’m done with this thread.

Cryophilia,

Have fun at Red Square!

pop,

“You send aid, we keep funding the genocide. Deal?”

-Bidet

catloaf,

And is Israel going to allow the aid in, and distribute it to Palestinians?

Viking_Hippie,

Nope. And Sisi knows it. That’s the only reason why that awful dictator agreed to it in the first place.

He knows it won’t sour his relationship with the fascist apartheid regime next door since it won’t save any Palestinian lives, so it’s pretty much just free brownie points for him and Biden.

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