Rapha, Egypt
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For almost two years, Egyptian truckers bravely confronted the only land across Gaza outside Israel to provide vital aid, but long delays, Israeli rejection and harsh border conditions test their resolve to continue serving the Palestinians in war-torn enclaves.
The driver spent several weeks parked near the Egyptian side of the Rafa intersection, transporting aid to Gaza awaiting approval from Israeli authorities. Once approved, it is done to undergo the inspection process on both sides of the border, which Egyptian aid workers say, and often lasts for 18 hours.
After receiving approval from the Egyptian side, the driver takes the truck to Kelem Shalom south of the border, where supplies previously approved by Israeli forces are X-ray approved and workers cross between supplies that are being checked again in the onning process.
Medhat Mohamed, a truck driver who transports foods such as jam, honey, beans and hummus, said he was told to turn back to Israeli forces on Wednesday after waiting for two weeks for the inspection process at the Egyptian border.
“I was asked, ‘Why do you have so many foods? Who is this for?’ or sometimes you get the most basic answer: ‘Time goes up’,” Mohamed said.
Some drivers say they have spent weeks without seeing their families and missed out on potentially lucrative jobs in other parts of Egypt.
“We were here for almost a week, and after going once before (to an Israeli testing site), they said they turned to us. Why the 150-200 trucks are in for inspection, but the rest are denied.
Mahmoud al-Sheikh, another driver who has provided assistance to Gaza since the start of the war almost two years ago, described the process as “humiliation” for truck drivers and Palestinians who desperately need supplies.
“I’ve been providing assistance for two years. This is the most challenging time, the most difficult time I can imagine,” he said, noting the increased delivery restrictions.
Al Sheikh explained the difficult living conditions at the border, with thousands of drivers parked in nearby “sandpits” and began moving aid to the border waiting for green light.
A handful of bathroom stalls at a nearby mosque serve the thousands of truck drivers who must stay near their vehicles in case a sudden ceasefire allows aid to enter Gaza freely. Since the war began, the two short-lived ceasefires that Gaza saw were 13 months apart.
The wages are low. “We are paid £650 ($13) a day, but we need to buy water to bathe and drink. We need to buy ice to store our food.
When asked why he was continuing this job, Al Sheikh said, “Because the people of Gaza are hungry.”
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatti told CNN that 5,000 trucks carrying aid are waiting for the Egyptian border to enter. Kogat, an Israeli military body that oversees access to Gaza, told CNN on Tuesday that it would “not interfere with the entry of trucks from Egypt and promote passage to Gaza without quantitative restrictions.”
Amal Emmam, head of Egypt’s Red Crescent, said on Monday that Egyptian aid groups are guaranteed to meet all the requirements set by Cogat, but they often find that even items previously approved by Israel are clearly rejected for any reason.
“For us, it’s trial and error,” Emmam said.
She showed hundreds of aid aid packages stacked in Egyptian warehouses near the intersection of Rafa, including intensive care unit (ICU) beds, oxygen tanks, solar panels, and generators. These were rejected several times by Israel during inspections at the border, she said.
“The ICU bed was denied four times because it contains metal parts,” she told CNN’s Becky Anderson.
In response to Emam’s claims against CNN, Cogat said Wednesday:
“Therefore, the organization was asked to properly accommodate the trucks and once the cargo was repackaged, the trucks entered Gaza yesterday.”
Emmam said the package dimensions have been properly measured, loaded into specific wooden pallets and digitally coded and manifested in cooperation with Israel before items are sent to the border for IDF inspections. Otherwise, she said the difference, no matter how small, would interfere with access to aid. “Sometimes we don’t get an answer as to why they were rejected.”
“Trucks will only be denied entry if they involve attempts to smuggle prohibited goods or if the truck driver has previously made multiple attempts to smuggle, so that they are prohibited from arriving at the intersection.”
The process is expensive and added “unnecessary financial burden” to “add additional areas for packing, repacking and preservation,” adding that it will store and preserve all the aid waiting to be built in Egypt as it walks the path to Gaza.
Impressive images of starvation and extreme malnutrition after Israel’s lockdown in Gaza sparked global protests last month. The protest targeted Egyptian embassies overseas as protesters accused the Egyptian government of being complicity in blocking aid.
Egypt’s Foreign Minister organized a visit to the Gaza border amid rising pressure, saying that the burden lies on Israel and that the Rafa border is open around the clock on the Egyptian side but remains closed on the Israeli-controlled side.
A CNN report released last year revealed 20 humanitarian workers and government officials working to provide assistance said there is a clear pattern of the speed of Israeli aid. Cogat imposes arbitrary and contradictory standards, they said.
CNN also reviewed documents compiled by key participants in humanitarian operations listing items most frequently rejected by Israelis, including anesthesia and anesthesia machines, oxygen cylinders, ventilators and water filtration systems.
Despite restrictions, the aid workers refuse to give up, Emmam said.
“If I stop this, who will do it?”
