Egypt says airstrikes keep Rafah crossing open, but Gaza’s roads ‘inoperable’

(CNN) — The Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt remains open, but aerial bombardment has “incapacitated” roads on the Gaza side, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Saturday.

“The Rafah crossing is officially open on the Egyptian side and it will always be open. The problem with the roads is that they are under aerial bombardment. So, the roads are not ready on the Gaza side. Get vehicle traffic,” Shokri said.

Shogri said the Egyptian government would help facilitate flights for expatriates in Gaza to return to their home countries if they were able to pass through the Rafah crossing. He explained: “If all procedures are properly followed and your documents are verified on the Gaza side to cross, we will provide you with all the facilities in cooperation with your embassies, from which you can return to your place. Home “country of origin”.

The minister said that Egypt tried to send humanitarian aid to Gaza but did not receive the necessary authorization. “We have a lot of applications being processed,” he said.

“We are coordinating with the United Nations and UNRWA to request permission to send these goods through the Rafah crossing and to be sent to the United Nations. But we have not received authorization to do so,” Shokri said.

The Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt remains the only viable route to evacuate people from the besieged area and bring in supplies. But it is not known if it works.

The U.S. State Department previously indicated that the Egyptian entry point “may be open” to Americans trying to leave Gaza, but local media reported that U.S. citizens and other foreigners could not leave Gaza this Saturday.

In an interview with CNN, Shokri stressed the need to protect civilian lives in the conflict. “We are advocating for the need to respect international humanitarian law, the concerns and the need to address the very difficult situations Palestinian citizens are going through. We need more protection so that civilians are not attacked,” Shogri said.

“We are very clear that we will not accept any kind of attack on innocent civilians,” Shokri said.