Egypt calls on Israel to open all checkpoints on border with Gaza

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has called on Israel to open all checkpoints on the borders with the Gaza Strip to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid to the enclave for the local population, EFE reported.

He recalled that humanitarian aid deliveries through the Rafah crossing on Egypt's border with the Gaza Strip had to stop due to Israeli operations in the area. The aid currently being delivered to the Gaza Strip by sea is not reaching the enclave, according to Shoukry, EFE reports.

He added that the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip remains "one of the most tragic in our time."

Shoukry held talks with Greek Foreign Minister Yorgos Gerapetritis in Athens on Monday. The ministers discussed, among other things, the situation in the Gaza Strip.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) continue to maintain control of the Rafah checkpoint, having occupied it on the Palestinian side several weeks ago. In addition, the IDF is operating in the Philadelphi Corridor, a 14 kilometre strip of land that serves as a buffer zone on the border between Egypt and Gaza.