March 14, 2024

Since Oct. 7, 2023, external humanitarian aid has primarily had to enter the Gaza Strip via the land crossing at Rafah, which is run by Egypt. 

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Gen. Abdel Fatteh El-Sisi, the ruler of Egypt for the past decade, is as committed as Israel to the goal of keeping arms out of the hands of terrorists, so Israel trusts his government in Egypt to vet these shipments and ensure that armaments aren’t smuggled in among the convoys of food and beverages that cross every day.

Neither Israel nor Egypt have put a limit on the number of trucks that can enter at Rafah, and the Gaza Strip is not a particularly big place – it’s only about twice the size of Washington D.C., in fact.  One entrance with unlimited trucks is quite sufficient to bring in aid for such a small area.

But ever since Hamas’s horrific attacks on Israel on October 7 that started this long-needed police action, the global anti-Israel lobby has declared that they need another way to bring in humanitarian aid – one outside Egypt.  They need a seaport, they tell us, to bring in aid directly from the Mediterranean.

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Why?

The answer is obvious.  The terrorists of Hamas and their fellow travelers have allies in Cyprus, Turkey, Greece, Iran, and the United Nations.  Anyone else who might ship cargo to Gaza would – intentionally – have weaker security checkpoints than Egypt has.  

There’s a reason, after all, why Israel hasn’t been allowing relief vessels to serve Gaza, and it dates back to long before October 7.  Israel has frequently caught weapons caches being smuggled into Gaza by sea in the past – always under the guise of humanitarian aid.

This isn’t Israel being mean or suspicious; this is Israel learning from experience, and acknowledging reality.

If the West wants to get food, medicine, and beverages into Gaza, all they have to do is send it to Rafah, and Egypt will make sure it gets there.

But Hamas doesn’t want Western food, medicine and beverages.  Hamas wants weapons.