DUBAI: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi accused Israel on Wednesday of holding up aid deliveries for Gaza at the Rafah border crossing.
“This is a form of pressure on the Gaza Strip and its people over the conflict and the release of hostages. They are using this as a pressure tool on the people of the Strip,” El-Sisi told a gathering of military officers and state officials.
“We used to send Gaza 600 trucks a day. But for the past two to three days, we are not delivering more than 200 to 220 trucks (of aid) per day. How are these people (in Gaza) living?” he said.
“Egypt’s Rafah crossing is open 24/7 every day of the month. But the procedures taking place on the Israeli side for us to send in the aid without it being blocked by anyone, they are the reason (for holdups).”
Israel’s air and ground war in Gaza following a surprise cross-border assault by Hamas militants has caused a severe humanitarian crisis, with most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people left homeless and acutely short of food, water, medicine and fuel.
Israel has previously denied holding up aid to Gaza via the Rafah crossing.
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Egypt’s El-Sisi accuses Israel of impeding aid deliveries to Gaza
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Egypt’s El-Sisi accuses Israel of impeding aid deliveries to Gaza
- Abdel Fattah El-Sisi: ‘We used to send Gaza 600 trucks a day. But for the past two to three days, we are not delivering more than 200 to 220 trucks (of aid) per day’
- El-Sisi: ‘The procedures taking place on the Israeli side for us to send in the aid without it being blocked by anyone, they are the reason (for holdups)’
Israel says it killed Hamas financial officer in Gaza
JERUSALEM: The Israeli army said Wednesday that it had identified a Hamas financial official it killed two weeks ago in a strike in the Gaza Strip.
Abdel Hay Zaqut, a financial official in Hamas’s armed wing, on December 13 in the same strike that killed military commander Raed Saad, seen by Israel as one of the architects of Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack.
The Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, said on Wednesday that Zaqut was killed while he was in a vehicle alongside Raed Saad in “a joint operation by the Israeli army and the Shin Bet,” Israel’s internal security agency.
Zaqut “belonged to the financial department of the armed wing” of Hamas, Adraee wrote on X.
“Over the past year, Zaqut was responsible for collecting and transferring tens of millions of dollars to Hamas’s armed wing with the aim of continuing the fight against the State of Israel,” he said.
Hamas’s leader for the Gaza Strip, Khalil Al-Hayya, confirmed on December 14 the death of Raed Saad and “his companions,” though he did not name Zaqut.
The Israeli army said Saad headed the weapons production headquarters of Hamas’s military wing and oversaw the group’s build-up of capabilities.
Since October 10, a fragile truce has been in force in the Gaza Strip, although Israel and Hamas accuse each other of violations.
The war began with Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,200 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed more than 70,000 people in the Gaza Strip, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, a figure the UN deems is credible.
Abdel Hay Zaqut, a financial official in Hamas’s armed wing, on December 13 in the same strike that killed military commander Raed Saad, seen by Israel as one of the architects of Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack.
The Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, said on Wednesday that Zaqut was killed while he was in a vehicle alongside Raed Saad in “a joint operation by the Israeli army and the Shin Bet,” Israel’s internal security agency.
Zaqut “belonged to the financial department of the armed wing” of Hamas, Adraee wrote on X.
“Over the past year, Zaqut was responsible for collecting and transferring tens of millions of dollars to Hamas’s armed wing with the aim of continuing the fight against the State of Israel,” he said.
Hamas’s leader for the Gaza Strip, Khalil Al-Hayya, confirmed on December 14 the death of Raed Saad and “his companions,” though he did not name Zaqut.
The Israeli army said Saad headed the weapons production headquarters of Hamas’s military wing and oversaw the group’s build-up of capabilities.
Since October 10, a fragile truce has been in force in the Gaza Strip, although Israel and Hamas accuse each other of violations.
The war began with Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,200 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed more than 70,000 people in the Gaza Strip, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, a figure the UN deems is credible.
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