Aid Trucks Start Arriving at Kerem Shalom Crossing as Egypt Prepares to Open Rafah

FILED - 15 November 2023, Egypt, Rafah: Aid trucks queue to enter Palestinian territories from Rafah Border Crossing. Photo: Gehad Hamdy/dpa
FILED - 15 November 2023, Egypt, Rafah: Aid trucks queue to enter Palestinian territories from Rafah Border Crossing. Photo: Gehad Hamdy/dpa
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Aid Trucks Start Arriving at Kerem Shalom Crossing as Egypt Prepares to Open Rafah

FILED - 15 November 2023, Egypt, Rafah: Aid trucks queue to enter Palestinian territories from Rafah Border Crossing. Photo: Gehad Hamdy/dpa
FILED - 15 November 2023, Egypt, Rafah: Aid trucks queue to enter Palestinian territories from Rafah Border Crossing. Photo: Gehad Hamdy/dpa

Aid delivery trucks started arriving at the Kerem Shalom crossing until maintenance of the Rafah crossing is completed, two Egyptian security sources said.

The Egyptian foreign minister had said that the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt will start operating “soon” as officials prepare for a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza as part of the ceasefire set to take effect on Sunday.

Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty did not specify when exactly the crossing will open. The crossing, Gaza’s main gateway to the outside world, has been closed since the Israeli army took over the area last May.

Abdelatty said 600 trucks of aid should be entering Gaza daily during the ceasefire, including 50 fuel trucks.



Syria Defense Minister Rejects Kurdish Proposal to Remain Distinct Military Bloc

Fighters from the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army faction ride in a "technical" pickup truck at a position near the Tishrin Dam in the vicinity of Manbij, in the east of Syria's northern Aleppo province, on January 10, 2025 amidst ongoing battles with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). (Photo by AAREF WATAD / AFP)
Fighters from the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army faction ride in a "technical" pickup truck at a position near the Tishrin Dam in the vicinity of Manbij, in the east of Syria's northern Aleppo province, on January 10, 2025 amidst ongoing battles with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). (Photo by AAREF WATAD / AFP)
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Syria Defense Minister Rejects Kurdish Proposal to Remain Distinct Military Bloc

Fighters from the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army faction ride in a "technical" pickup truck at a position near the Tishrin Dam in the vicinity of Manbij, in the east of Syria's northern Aleppo province, on January 10, 2025 amidst ongoing battles with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). (Photo by AAREF WATAD / AFP)
Fighters from the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army faction ride in a "technical" pickup truck at a position near the Tishrin Dam in the vicinity of Manbij, in the east of Syria's northern Aleppo province, on January 10, 2025 amidst ongoing battles with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). (Photo by AAREF WATAD / AFP)

Syria's new defense minister said on Sunday it would not be right for US-backed Kurdish fighters based in the country's northeast to retain their own bloc within the broader integrated Syrian armed forces.
Speaking to Reuters at the defense ministry in Damascus, Murhaf Abu Qasra said the head of the Kurdish fighters, known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, was procrastinating in its handling of the complex issue.