HIBAPRESS
American actress Angelina Jolie visited North Sinai Governorate and the Rafah crossing, accompanied by Ambassador Nabila Makram Obeid and Arwa Jayyusi, a representative of the US State Department, to assess the humanitarian situation and appreciate the relief efforts directed towards Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The visit included Al-Arish General Hospital, where Jolie reviewed the conditions of Palestinian wounded and injured, and listened to testimonies from a number of survivors. She also inspected their health conditions, expressing her great appreciation for the Egyptian medical teams who continue their work continuously.
During the tour, Jolie said that what she heard and saw from the stories of the wounded was beyond description, praising what she described as the heroic work carried out by the medical teams in Al-Arish city under difficult humanitarian conditions.
Major General Khaled Maghawer, Governor of North Sinai, received the delegation, welcoming the visit and considering it a step that highlights the vital role that Sinai plays as an essential artery to support the Gaza Strip, accompanying the delegation on a tour that included medical facilities and the surrounding border area.
The delegation later headed to the humanitarian aid warehouses, where Jolie reviewed the methods of sorting, storing, and preparing relief convoys, praising the organization and the role played by the Egyptian authorities in this field, before visiting the Rafah land crossing and learning about the crossing procedures and coordination mechanisms adopted with the Egyptian Red Crescent.
For her part, Ambassador Nabila Makram Obeid confirmed that Egypt continues to open its doors before its borders to its brothers, stressing that coordination with international partners aims to overcome the various challenges that impede the delivery of humanitarian aid to its recipients.
In turn, Arwa Jayyusi, the representative of the US State Department, explained that the visit aims to assess field needs and ensure the suitability of medical and shelter aid with the size of the humanitarian disaster, especially with the onset of winter.
In a related context, the foreign ministers of 8 countries, namely Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, and Qatar, expressed in a joint statement issued on Friday morning, their deep concern regarding the accelerating humanitarian deterioration in the Gaza Strip.
The statement affirmed that the continuous bombing, the imposed blockade, and harsh climatic conditions have become a direct threat to the lives of about 1.9 million displaced persons, noting that the winter season revealed the fragility of the humanitarian situation after the displacement camps turned into disaster areas flooded by rainwater, amid a severe shortage of heating and basic services.
The ministers also warned that the coincidence of acute malnutrition with the severe cold heralds a health disaster and the spread of epidemics, especially among the most vulnerable groups, including women, children, and the elderly.
This comes at a time when Israel had previously refused to open the Rafah crossing in both directions, whether for the exit of the injured from Gaza for treatment or for the entry of humanitarian aid, before the US administration exerted pressure to open this vital crossing linking the Strip and Egypt.
