TV: Gaza aid deliveries restart from Egypt via Kerem Shalom crossing

Palestinians carry boxes of humanitarian aid after rushing the trucks transporting the international aid from the US-built Trident Pier near Nuseirat. Ali Hamad/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Badly needed aid to the Gaza Strip on Sunday started coming from Egypt through the Kerem Shalom crossing for the first time in nearly three weeks, an Egyptian TV station reported.

The state-affiliated al-Qahera News TV said 200 trucks carrying humanitarian supplies were moving from outside the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing, heading to the Karm Abu Salem crossing or Kerem Shalom.

They included four fuel trucks and began moving through Kerem Shalom, according to the broadcaster.

Earlier this month, Israel took control of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt, in an operation that halted aid deliveries via the vital facility into the heavily populated strip.

Since the closure of the Rafah crossing, Egypt has indicated it will not coordinate aid transports through Rafah until the Israeli forces withdraw.

Hamas has recently attacked the Kerem Shalom crossing and Israeli settlements with rockets.

US President Joe Biden and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi earlier this week agreed on aid deliveries to Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing.

Egypt will hand over humanitarian aid and fuel to the United Nations at the crossing in a temporary arrangement until a legal mechanism is reached to reopen the Rafah crossing from the Palestinian side, an Egyptian presidency statement said.