Israel to open its Kerem Shalom crossing for Gaza aid

The security cabinet approved the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza through its Kerem Shalom crossing for the first time since the Israel-Hamas war started on October 7.

It took that step during a visit by US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan who had pressed the officials he met with to open the crossing, which until the war had served as the main commercial passage for goods traveling in and out of Gaza.

Sullivan called the move “a significant step” before leaving Israel on Friday.

“The United States remains committed to expanding and sustaining the flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza,” Sullivan said in a post on X.  The US will continue to work closely with Egypt and other partners to ensure that such goods enter Gaza, he added.

In a statement put out by the White House Sullivan said that US President Joe Biden raised the issue of opening Kerem Shale “in recent phone calls” with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “It was an important topic of discussion during my visit to Israel over the past two days,” Sullivan said.

The United Nations and the United Kingdom also lauded the move. 

UN Undersecretary for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths called for the quick “implementation” of the decision, adding in a post on X, that “what the people in Gaza need most is an end to this war.”

Limited crossings into Gaza

Israel had closed its commercial and pedestrian crossings into Gaza, forcing humanitarian assistance to enter the enclave through Egypt’s Rafah crossing which was not designed to handle a high-volume passage of goods.The Prime Minister’s Office sent out a notice on the controversial decision, on behalf of Israel’s National Security Council.

It explained that Israel had committed to allowing 200 truckloads of humanitarian goods a day to enter Gaza when it entered into last month’s hostage agreement by which 105 captives were freed from Gaza. The group included mostly women, children, and foreigners.

The system of security checks, which was limited at Rafah and thus had already been transferred to Kerem Shalom, created a burdensome system, the PMO explained.

Trucks inspected at Kerem Shalom then had to return to Rafah, which created a backlog of vehicles needing entry to Gaza.

“To comply with its agreement the cabinet has temporarily approved [a system of] the unloading of trucks on the Gaza side of Kerem Shalom, instead of returning them to Rafah, the PMO stated.

“The US has pledged to finance the upgrading of the Rafah crossing as quickly as possible,” the PMO said. Once that occurs, Rafah will become the entry point of humanitarian aid into Gaza, the PMO said.

Reuters and Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.