Israel agrees to reopen southern Gaza border crossing to permit more aid

by Tara Suter - 12/15/23 5:32 PM ET

FILE – A Hamas security officer checks a truck entering Gaza at the gate of the Kerem Shalom cargo crossing with Israel, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on June 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Adel Hana, File)

Israel has agreed to reopen the Kerem Shalom border crossing on Egypt’s border to allow more aid into Gaza.

“Before departing Israel, I was informed by my counterpart, Israeli National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi, that the Government of Israel has taken the decision to open its border crossing at Kerem Shalom for direct delivery of humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians in Gaza,” President Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement Friday.

“We welcome this significant step. President Biden raised this issue in recent phone calls with [Israel] Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu, and it was an important topic of discussion during my visit to Israel over the past two days,” he added.

The Consulate General of Israel to New England said Israel had “reopened the Kerem Shalom crossing, significantly increasing the volume of humanitarian aid including food, water, and other essentials being delivered into the Gaza Strip” in a post Tuesday on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Sullivan’s statement comes as aid groups and the United Nations sound alarm over a humanitarian crisis in Gaza as Israel seeks to destroy Hamas, which launched an attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people more than two months ago.

More than 18,000 people have been killed by Israel’s retaliatory airstrikes and ground offensive in Gaza, including thousands of civilians, according to Gaza health authorities, while much of the population of some 2 million people have been forced to flee their homes and find refuge in hospitals, schools or other shelters.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Friday it accidentally killed three Israeli hostages in Gaza City. Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said it was unclear whether the hostages had escaped from captivity or had been abandoned.

“The IDF expresses deep remorse over the tragic incident and sends the families its heartfelt condolences,” the military said. “Our national mission is to locate the missing and return all the hostages home.”

President Biden has been upping his criticism of Israel as the war has worn on. During a fundraiser Tuesday, the president said Netanyahu “has to change, and with this government, this government in Israel is making it very difficult for him to move.”

“It has most of the world supporting it. But they’re starting to lose that support by the indiscriminate bombing that takes place,” Biden said.