Biden says Egypt to open Rafah crossing for Gaza humanitarian aid

INA-  SOURCES

President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that Egypt had agreed to open Rafah crossing to allow nearly 20 trucks carrying humanitarian aid into Gaza. The US president said that his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi deserves credit for the agreement, adding that they held a call beforehand.
 
“The bottom line is Sisi deserves a lot of credit," Biden told reporters. The agreement is contingent, he added, on whether Hamas behavior. "If Hamas confiscates them or doesn't let it get through...that [the arrangement] is going to end," he said.
 
In a readout of the Biden-Sisi call, the White House said the two leaders agreed on preventing further escalation. “They agreed on the need to preserve stability in the Middle East, prevent escalation of the conflict, and set the circumstances for a durable, permanent peace in the region,” the statement read.
 
Biden made the announcement on his way back from a rare wartime visit to Israel, pledging US support for Israel and meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as members of the war cabinet.
 
"We will continue to have Israel's back as you work to defend your people,” he said at the airport. In an earlier White House statement, Biden sent his “deepest condolences for the innocent lives lost in the hospital explosion in Gaza, and wished a speedy recovery to the wounded.”
 
Biden briefly addressed the Gaza hospital bombing, backing the Israeli government and telling Netanyahu it “appears as though it was done by the other team.”
 
Lebanon's juggernaut militant group Hezbollah called for a "day of rage" on Wednesday over the Gaza hospital strike that has left hundreds dead and came just as Biden headed to Israel. The Israel Defense Forces denied responsibility and said a failed rocket launch from the militant group Islamic Jihad caused the deadly explosion.
 
Hundreds of Lebanese protesters gathered outside the US Embassy compound near Beirut in the early hours of Wednesday local time and clashed with security forces. The United States raised its travel alert in Lebanon to level 4, urging citizens against any travel to the country.

Protests were also reported in Iraq, Turkey and Jordan. A planned summit in Jordan between the US, Jordanian, Egyptian and Palestinian Authority leaders has been postponed in a reportedly collective decision.

The death toll has now exceeded 4,000, with nearly 3,200 Palestinians and 1,400 Israelis killed.

Meanwhile, intense negotiations to open the Rafah crossing continued as a blast hit the area, adding to operational problems that could delay opening the only passage out of Gaza.

On Tuesday, Jordan’s King Abdullah said that neither his country nor Egypt will accept Palestinian refugees, declaring it a "red line."