Egypt has agreed to open Rafah crossing to allow aid trucks into Gaza: Biden

Egypts President AlSisi has agreed to open the Rafah border crossing to allow roughly 20 trucks to provide humanitarian aid into Gaza US President Joe Biden said Aboard Air Force One Biden told reporters that when he took off for Israel his key goal was to get humanitarian aid into Gaza and ensure there is a vehicle a mechanism for it to happen quicklyAnd so I have been on the phone for the last I dont know Weve been on the ground a while Thats why we havent taken off with ElSisi I dont think I was on that long It was about probably half an hour And both my team here was with me And he agreed that what he would do is open the gate to do two things one let up to 20 trucks through to begin with Satterfield my ambassador is down there in not down there in Cairo now Hes going to coordinate this He has my authority to do what is needed to get it done Biden said in a press gaggle on board Air Force 1 at Ramstein base GermanyWhen we took off my goal was multifold but basically to get humanitarian aid into Gaza and to get as many Americans out who wanted to get out could get out as possible And so we got a commitment as you know from the from the Israelis including the unanimous vote of their war cabinet and the Prime Minister And the second thing was that I wanted to make sure there was a vehicle a mechanism that this could happen quickly the US President saidOn being asked if he was talking about Rafah crossing Biden responded by saying yes and added Theyre going to patch the road They have to fill in potholes to get these trucks through And thats going to occur they expect itll take about eight hours tomorrow So there may be nothing rolling through until whats today Im losing track of days Thursday Wednesday Probably until FridayHe was further asked by reporters if Sisi agreed to open it up to which the President said Yes For this purpose For this purpose Not to allow a lot of people out but to open it up for this purposefor the trucks to be able to get throughBut heres the deal up to 20 trucks This has been a very blunt negotiation Ive had And so we want to get as many of the trucks out as possible Theres I guess 150 or something there Not all of them will go the first tranche If theres a second tranche see how it goes The commitment is If in fact they cross the border the UN is going to be on the other side distributing this material offloading it and then distributing it which is going to take a little time to set up probably Biden saidBut the the point being that if the if Hamas confiscates it or doesnt let it get through or just confiscates it then its going to end because were not going to be sending any humanitarian aid to Hamas if theyre going to be confiscating it Thats the commitment that Ive made And so the bottom line is that ElSisi deserves some real credit because he was very accommodating and quite frankly as everyone Ive spoken to thus far since this trip began he addedAccording to a White House readout US President Joe Biden spoke with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah AlSisi on Wednesday and discussed ongoing coordination to deliver humanitarian assistance to Gaza and mechanisms to ensure the aid is distributed for the benefit of the civilian population the White House said The two presidents concurred to cooperate closely in promoting a swift and robust global response to the UNs plea for humanitarian aidThey 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 two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the enduring strategic partnership between the United States and Egypt the White House said in an official releaseNotably Biden was earlier scheduled to meet with Jordans King Abdullah Egyptian President Abdel Fattah ElSisi and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas after first visiting Israel However the meeting was cancelled after the Gaza hospital explosion Jordans Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said the meeting would be held at a time when the parties could agree to end the war and the massacres against Palestinians and blamed Israel with its military campaign for pushing the region to the brink of the abyssThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever