United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the Rafah border crossing will be reopened following his meeting on Sunday with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi.
There are only three ways out of Gaza — the two border crossings with Israel and the third, the border with Rafah, Egypt — all of which have been completely closed since Hamas attacked Israel last weekend. The Biden administration had lobbied Cairo for days to open the Rafah border as millions of Palestinians sought refuge ahead of Israel’s expected ground offensive.
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“Rafah will be open,” Blinken told reporters in Cairo on Sunday, “We are putting into place — with the United Nations, with Egypt, with Israel, with others — the mechanism by which to get the assistance in and to get it to the people who need it.”
At least 3,600 people and 29 Americans have died since the conflict erupted on Oct. 7. Along with the United States, leading world actors have attempted to establish a corridor for Palestinians in Gaza to evacuate the area in order for Israel to move in.
Israel has been prepping for a highly-anticipated ground offensive in order to take out Hamas and rescue people being held hostage.
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In anticipation of that and the continuation of attacks on Israel, the U.S. has been trying to evacuate its own citizens from there and Gaza. The U.S. also announced plans to send two aircraft carrier strike groups to the region.
The USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group arrived in the eastern Mediterranean Sea on Tuesday, while the USS Eisenhower carrier strike group was deployed to the area on Saturday.
