Egypt, UN to supervise humanitarian aid delivery to Gaza: FM

CAIRO - Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said on Wednesday that the Egyptian government and Egyptian Red Crescent will supervise the delivery of aid to the besieged Gaza Strip in coordination with the United Nations.

"Cairo's goal is to accelerate the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip," Shoukry was quoted by Alarabiya News as saying.

Over the past few days, tons of aid supplies from Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Turkiye, and the World Health Organization have arrived at the Rafah border crossing, waiting for access to the Palestinian coastal enclave from the Egyptian side.

Earlier on Wednesday, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi expressed Egypt's firm support for the Palestinian people and a strong rejection of any attempts to relocate them to Egypt's adjacent Sinai Peninsula.

On the same day, Israel's wartime cabinet decided to allow basic humanitarian aid from Egypt into the Gaza Strip, which Shoukry described as "a positive development".

The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on Oct 7 showered Israel with thousands of rockets in a rare surprise attack, to which Israel responded with massive airstrikes on Gaza and punitive measures, including a siege on the enclave with supplies of water, electricity, fuel, and other necessities being cut off.

The ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, as it entered the 12th day, has killed more than 4,000 people on both sides.