Large amounts of aid is ready to enter the Gaza Strip from Egypt, but Israel is not allowing the Rafah crossing to be opened, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said on Monday. 'Unfortunately the Israeli government has so far not taken a stance that makes it possible to open the crossing from Gaza, allow aid to enter or for citizens of third countries to leave,' Shoukry told reporters in Cairo. Sources have previously said that Egypt's only border crossing with the Gaza Strip was set to reopen on Monday for the departure of foreign nationals from the coastal strip to Egypt and humanitarian aid deliveries to the territory. Some 2,000 tons of relief supplies are ready in North Sinai's al-Arish city, which lies some 50 kilometres away from the Rafah crossing, the head of the Egyptian Red Crescent in North Sinai, Khaled Zayed, told dpa. It includes 40,000 blankets, around 300,000 boxes of medicine and clothing.

Source: Ghana News Agency