Gaza aid package from Biden faces hurdles at Egypt border crossing

Wrapping up a trip to Israel on Wednesday, Biden told reporters that up to 20 trucks of aid from Egypt would be allowed into the enclave through the Rafah crossing once potholes along the road and damage from Israeli airstrikes had been repaired. Humanitarian officials warned, however, that a host of issues must still be resolved before the trucks can start moving.

“The diplomats are way behind in responding to an exploding emergency,” said Jan Egeland, Secretary General for the Norwegian Refugee Council. “You now need a cease fire and you need massive access across several crossing points, even to be close to responding to the most acute needs as the entire population is now destitute.”

The Gaza Strip, which is ruled by Hamas, has been under an Israeli blockade for 16 years, leaving most of its 2.3 million residents dependent on aid even before the current conflict. Those deliveries stopped entirely when Israeli and Egyptian border crossings into Gaza were closed after Hamas militants killed at least 1,400 people in a surprise assault on Israeli border communities on Oct. 7.

Thirteen days of heavy Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 3,000 Palestinians, leveled whole neighborhoods, and put Gaza’s health system on the verge of collapse. Each day, casualties pour into hospitals that no longer have enough beds or medical supplies to treat them.

An initial aid delivery will ease the crisis, experts say, but only fleetingly: “What is needed is consistent and unimpeded aid access into and within Gaza, not only for the entry of and safe passage of supplies but also for humanitarians to be able to undertake their work safely,” said Emma Beals, a nonresident fellow at the Middle East Institute who researches the distribution of aid in conflict zones.

“We need more than just a promise that aid is allowed to go in,” the U.N’s emergency relief coordinator, Martin Griffiths, told The Washington Post Wednesday. “Aid must go in at scale and daily.”

U.N. Secretary General António Guterres echoed that point upon arriving in Cairo early Thursday, telling reporters he is seeking agreement on “sustained” humanitarian relief.

But U.S. officials were quick to describe the first trucks as a test balloon — with no guarantee of future deliveries if Hamas interfered.

“If Hamas diverts or steals the assistance, they will have demonstrated once again that they have no concern for the welfare of the Palestinian people,” Biden said, speaking aboard Air Force One as he departed Israel. “As a practical matter it will stop the international community from being able to provide this aid.”

Aid diversion is common in active war zones, and international donors have threatened to stop the flow of assistance in countries like Syria and Ethiopia, but only after repeated violations. It is unusual for the diversion threshold to be set so low, especially before the trucks depart.

Humanitarian officials emphasized that the U.N. already has well-established monitoring mechanisms in place for aid that crosses into Gaza. The European Union also has an assistance mission that operates at Egypt’s Rafah crossing and could be called upon to inspect the trucks upon entry.

It was unclear Thursday whether these agencies had been contacted about helping to monitor the aid route.

Discussions on inspections were still “ongoing,” U.S. and U.N. officials told The Post Thursday. Reports in Arab media and elsewhere that a deal had been reached were “premature,” one official said. Another said the talks are “close, but not there yet.” Both spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the negotiations.

“It is outrageous to hold back emergency relief for children, women and families because they fear aid diversion. Most of the stuff that goes in, the fighting men are well stocked on, they don’t need bottled water or baby powder,” Egeland said, adding that existing monitoring mechanisms can and should be implemented without delay.

More than 100 aid trucks were lined up Thursday in the Egyptian city of al-Arish, waiting for a greenlight to move to Rafah. On the other side of the border, Palestinians struggled to understand why the initial deliveries would be so small — or how they would actually reach people.

Mohamed Zanoon, an independent photographer who was working to document the aftermath of Israel’s air raids, said that he was witnessing a “humanitarian catastrophe.” He has struggled to push from his mind the memories of children screaming beneath the rubble. “Twenty trucks isn’t enough,” he said, reached by phone. “More than a million people need medical care in Gaza.”

Among the thorniest remaining questions is whether fuel will be allowed on the trucks. Without its regular deliveries, Gaza’s last power plant went dark last week, robbing the enclave of regular electricity. Hospitals across Gaza have struggled to keep the lights on with diesel-powered generators. Doctors warn that a total blackout would be a death sentence for patients on life support, in the operating theater and to newborns in incubators.

As news of the impending deal filtered through Gaza, residents described the U.S.-backed effort as a drop in the ocean, and fretted over whether they would receive anything all. “Okay, it’s something,” said Yousef Hammash, a father of two from Gaza City. “At least we have it. Now we have to have a truce to distribute it. How are they going to do it under bombardment?”

Humanitarian officials say they have yet to secure guarantees that aid workers delivering the supplies will be protected from Israeli bombardment. The World Health Organization has recorded 59 attacks on medical infrastructure since Oct. 7, killing 16 health-care workers, wounding 28 more and pushing four hospitals entirely out of service.

Griffiths said humanitarian officials have been engaged in “incredibly detailed negotiations” about what an aid program to southern Gaza would look like, and that relief workers need assurances that they will be able to deliver aid consistently and reach people where they are, “in the places that they choose to be safe.”

For many Palestinians, nowhere in Gaza feels safe. The Palestinian news agency WAFA reported Wednesday that Israeli warplanes had bombed five bakeries in different locations, killing dozens of people and injuring hundreds as they lined up to buy bread. Medics and aid workers have also been killed in their off-duty hours, sometimes as they left work to check on their families.

“The streets are not safe, and the entire population is in need,” said Hammash. “Every day we have to do our challenging mission of getting bread and water.” He moved his family from Gaza City to Khan Younis this week after the Israeli military ordered the evacuation of more than 1 million civilians in the northern part of the enclave. But the mass displacement has put such strain on resources in the south that Hammash said some people were now heading back home.

“Either you get bombed in the north or you die from hunger here,” he said.

Berger reported from Jerusalem. Claire Parker in Cairo, and Meg Kelly and Karen DeYoung in Washington contributed to this report.