At the border post of Rafah, at the Egyptian side entrance to the Gaza Strip, hundreds of humanitarian trucks have been waiting for the authorization of Israel for days to deliver food in the hungry Palestinian territory.
But only a few cross the border every day, according to Israeli decisions, according to drivers and humanitarian workers. “It all depends on their goodwill,” says Mahmoud El-Sheikh, an Egyptian trucker blocked for 13 days with a cargo of flour.
“Yesterday, 300 trucks were returned. Only 35 were able to pass,” he explains.
Each night, up to 150 trucks line up on the Egyptian side. In the morning, “the Israelis inspect those they want and refer others,” said Hussein Gomaa, a colleague.
In general, explain the drivers, the trucks are directed, once the post, towards the Israeli passage Kerem Shalom, has been crossed, a few kilometers. There, the drivers must get off their vehicle during the inspection before knowing the fate of their cargo.
– filtered humanitarian aid –
After almost two years of war, the UN alerted on the threat of a “widespread famine” in Gaza, combined with a shortage of water and medical care.
Despite the emergency, NGOs denounce an untenable slowness: Israel continues to block the vital rescue entrance, shelters and parts for hydraulic infrastructure, according to several UN officials, truckers and volunteers of the Egyptian Red Crescent interviewed by AFP.
Cargalers are often rejected on the grounds that they are “double use” – likely to be diverted for military purposes.
“Some materials are refused simply because they are metallic,” deplores Amande Bazerolle, emergency manager in Gaza for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
According to volunteers, other patterns sometimes border on the absurd: “a poorly aligned palette, a poorly coiled plastic film …”, reports one of them, the Red Crescent.
Because of a plastic and not wooden palette, a truck carrying intensive care stretchers was thus blocked, despite the UN alerts on their shortage in Gaza.
“You can have an approval number” which has been “validated by all parties”, explains Amal Emam, head of the Egyptian Red Crescent, “including Cogat” – body of the Israeli Defense Ministry managing civil affairs in occupied Palestinian territories. “And once at the border, everything is refused.”
In warehouses where help has piled up for months, stocks are mainly made up of dry products – lenses, chickpeas, beans, rice, pasta. Several foodstuffs already display outdated expiration dates.
The list of prohibited products “extends on whole pages,” describes Olga Cherevko, spokesperson for the UN Humanitarian Coordination Office (OCHA).
– “an organized famine” –
While the entry of basic drugs, such as anti-inflammatory drugs, can take a week, sensitive treatments, such as insulin, must be transported in unparalleled vehicles, Israel regularly refusing refrigerated containers.
“We no longer dare bring powerful painkillers, lest the whole truck be refused,” said a Health Organization Manager (WHO).
In warehouses, dozens of oxygen bottles, wheelchairs, portable toilets and generators accumulate.
“It is as if they rejected everything that could restore a semblance of humanity,” accuses an employee of the UN under the cover of anonymity.
An WHO official estimates that only 50 trucks manage to enter every day. Rather, Egypt evokes 130 to 150 trucks, sometimes 200 – about a third of the daily needs, according to the UN.
AFP could not verify these figures independently.
“It is an organized famine,” the Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs accused Monday, Badr Abdelatty, visiting the position of Rafah.
In a message published on X last week, the Cogat denied blocking the aid, saying that 320 trucks had entered Gaza on Sunday.
On the ground, MSF alert, even scalpels or external fixers to treat broken members are rejected. “People risk losing their members because we do not have the necessary tools,” deplores Amande Bazerolle.