Aid trucks expected to start entering Gaza through Kerem Shalom crossing

A food aid truck sits abandoned near the entrance to the Kerem Shalom border crossing, as military operations continue in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, at an area outside Kerem Shalom, Israel, May 17, 2024. REUTERS

About 200 aid trucks, including four fuel trucks, are expected to enter Gaza on Sunday through the Kerem Shalom border crossing, Khaled Zayed, the head of the Egyptian Red Crescent Society in North Sinai, told Reuters.

Egyptian state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV shared video on social media site X of what it said were the aid trucks as they entered the crossing.

The Rafah border crossing, which was the main entry point into Gaza for humanitarian aid and commercial supplies, has been shut for almost three weeks, since Israel took control of the Palestinian side of the crossing as it stepped up its military offensive in the area on May 6.

Some food supplies bound for Gaza have begun to rot with the Rafah crossing closed.

Egypt and the US agreed on 24 May to send aid via Israel's nearby Kerem Shalom crossing until legal arrangements are made to reopen Rafah from the Palestinian side, the Egyptian presidency said.

A global hunger monitor has warned of imminent famine in parts of Gaza, home to 2.3 million people.