Prime Minister Alexander De Croo visited the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza on Friday amidst a gridlock of humanitarian aid trucks.
According to on-the-ground reports, there are more than a thousand aid trucks currently waiting to enter Gaza. The vast majority contain humanitarian goods supplied by international organisations and regional actors such as the United Arab Emirates.
Along with his Spanish counterpart, Pedro Sanchez, De Croo urged all parties to accelerate the delivery of humanitarian supplies into the besieged Palestinian enclave.
"We know that the [UN] World Food Programme has around 1,300 tonnes ready to be delivered to the people of Gaza," he said.
"We are talking about water, about fuel, about medicines, about other basic needs. We have absolutely no time to waste during this ceasefire," he added, referring to the recently negotiated temporary truce between Israel and Hamas which began on Friday morning.
At the Rafah border crossing with a message of solidarity and humanity.
There is no time to lose during this ceasefire. The only way out of this conflict is dialogue. Without it, all sides are lost. pic.twitter.com/lscoj8RvQS — Alexander De Croo 🇧🇪🇪🇺 (@alexanderdecroo) November 24, 2023
The Prime Minister also met with a number of Belgian employees of the Red Cross who are involved in the evacuation of Belgians and their families from Gaza. Over the past week, 97 Belgians have fled the territory through the Rafah crossing.
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De Croo's visit to Rafah also came just hours after he and Sanchez met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo.
"The people of Gaza need more humanitarian aid urgently," De Croo wrote on X (formerly Twitter) shortly after this visit. "The temporary ceasefire must become a permanent one."
We thanked @AlsisiOfficial for helping us bring our citizens home.
The people of Gaza need more humanitarian aid urgently. The temporary ceasefire must become a permanent one. pic.twitter.com/1ucwzZChQy — Alexander De Croo 🇧🇪🇪🇺 (@alexanderdecroo) November 24, 2023
As of Friday late afternoon, Hamas had released 12 Thai and 13 Israeli hostages whom its fighters had seized during the group's terrorist attack on Israel on 7 October. In total, they took ca 240 hostages, including children, women and elderly. The International Red Cross has not been allowed to visit them.
