Some food supplies awaiting entry into Gaza have begun to spoil in Egypt due to the Rafah border crossing remaining closed for the third week, while hunger intensifies in the enclave. The Rafah crossing played a crucial role in delivering humanitarian aid and some commercial supplies before Israel intensified its military assault on the Palestinian side of the crossing on May 6 and took control of it. Officials and Egyptian sources state that military activity endangers humanitarian operations, and Israel should return control of the crossing to the Palestinians before it operates again.
Driver Mahmoud Hussein reported that goods have been loaded on his truck for a month and are gradually spoiling under the sun, leading to the disposal of some food items and selling others at a low price. He remarked, "The onions we are carrying are done, I apologize for using the term, but the animals are eating them because of the worms on them."
Relief officials indicate that "the flow of aid often slows due to Israeli inspections and military activity within Gaza, and the quantities reaching the 2.3 million residents of the enclave are far less than their needs." The World Food Programme has warned of an imminent famine in parts of Gaza.
Since May 5, not a single truck has passed through the Rafah crossing, with only very few trucks crossing from the nearby Kerem Shalom Israeli crossing, according to United Nations data. Khaled Zayed, head of the Egyptian Red Crescent Society in Sinai, mentioned that the volume of aid waiting to cross in North Sinai has now become very large, with some waiting for more than two months.
Abdullah Al-Rubaie, supervisor of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, a Saudi-funded charity, stated that the center has over 350 trucks loaded with various items, including food and medical supplies, waiting to pass through Rafah; however, they have been forced to offload flour for fear of it spoiling. Local officials from Egypt's Ministry of Supply indicated that some food items are being sold at low prices in the local market of North Sinai, leading to the confiscation of amounts of spoiled eggs.
Ismail Al-Thawabteh, the director of the government media office run by Hamas in Gaza, noted that medical and Palestinian police officials, who typically inspect goods entering Gaza, have not been able to do so during the Israeli assault. He added, "There is a significant problem that many goods entering the Gaza Strip are unfit for human consumption and are unhealthy... thus, the Ministry of Health issued this warning to raise awareness among citizens about the necessity of inspecting goods or materials before consuming and distributing them among family members."
