Angelina Jolie visits Rafah Crossing amid Gaza aid groups facing Israeli suspension
Actor and former special envoy to the United Nations Refugee Agency Angelina Jolie visited the Rafah Crossing on Friday. CNN, citing her representatives, reported that the visit was part of a humanitarian trip to Egypt. Her visit comes at a time when Israel has announced it will suspend the operations of dozens of aid organisations, working in the Gaza Strip, that have not renewed their registration, according to the report.
Angelina Jolie visits Rafah Crossing as part of humanitarian trip
The new requirements include the submission of personal details of staff members working in Gaza, a move that has raised serious safety concerns among humanitarian agencies. In its report, CNN shared Angelina’s statement saying that she spoke with aid agencies struggling to overcome restrictions on delivering assistance into Gaza. She said she walked through a large warehouse filled with supplies that had been denied entry, most of them medical in nature.
What did Angelina say
“I spoke to humanitarian agencies who are working hard to do their best to overcome the restrictions and challenges of delivering necessary aid into Gaza. I walked through a large warehouse that was full of items that were denied entry, most of them medical,” Angelina said in a statement, as quoted by CNN.
More about Angelina’s trip
During her visit, Angelina met aid workers from the Egyptian Red Crescent and other local organisations to discuss ways to increase humanitarian assistance to Gaza. Stressing the urgency of sustained access, she said the ceasefire must hold, and that aid delivery needs to be scaled up quickly and safely.
“What needs to happen is clear: the ceasefire must hold, and access must be sustained, safe and urgently scaled up so that aid, fuel and critical medical supplies can move quickly and consistently, at the volume required. Winter items and essential medical equipment should move without delay. Every day of disruption costs lives,” she said in a statement, as per the report.
She also expressed gratitude to the volunteers providing humanitarian assistance. The actor will also meet Palestinian and Sudanese refugee families in Egypt as part of her ongoing humanitarian engagement, her office said.
Aid organisations have warned time and again that Israel’s registration rules could put their employees at risk. Israel has said the measures are intended to prevent Hamas from exploiting international aid. The claim has been rejected by the United Nations and humanitarian groups. A US government review conducted recently found no evidence of widespread theft of aid by Hamas, despite
