In a moving humanitarian gesture, American actress Angelina Jolie visited North Sinai Governorate and the Rafah crossing in Egypt. She was accompanied on this visit by Ambassador Nabila Makram Ebeid, and Arua Jairi, representative of the US State Department, with the aim of documenting the extent of the humanitarian disaster and providing support for the ongoing relief efforts for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
At Al-Arish General Hospital, Jolie inspected the wounded and injured Palestinians, listened to the stories of the survivors, checked on their health, and expressed her appreciation for the Egyptian medical teams who are working tirelessly.
During the visit, Jolie stated that what she heard from the stories of some of the wounded Palestinians was “beyond description,” and praised the efforts of the medical teams in Arish, describing their work as heroic.
Major General Khaled Mejawar, Governor of North Sinai, received the American actress and the accompanying delegation, where he welcomed this step, which sheds light on the important role that Sinai plays as the only lifeline for the Gaza Strip. He took the delegation on a comprehensive tour that started from the medical facilities and reached the border contact line.
After that, the delegation went to inspect the humanitarian and logistical aid warehouses, where Jolie reviewed the mechanisms for sorting and preparing convoys, and praised the organizational role played by the Egyptian authorities. She also visited the Rafah land crossing, and reviewed the crossing procedures and coordination mechanisms with the Egyptian Red Crescent.
For her part, Ambassador Nabila Makram Ebeid affirmed that Egypt “opens its heart before its borders to its brothers,” and indicated that coordination with international partners aims to remove obstacles that impede the arrival of aid.
Arua Jairi, representative of the US State Department, also explained that the purpose of the visit is to assess the needs on the ground and ensure that medical and shelter aid is commensurate with the size of the disaster, especially with the approach of winter.
It is noteworthy that the foreign ministers of eight countries, namely Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, and Qatar, expressed in a joint statement issued on Friday morning their deep concern about the accelerating humanitarian deterioration in Gaza. They stressed that the ongoing bombing, siege and harsh weather conditions threaten the lives of nearly 1.9 million displaced people, warning that winter has revealed the fragility of humanitarian conditions with displacement camps flooded with rainwater and damaged buildings collapsing, in addition to the severe shortage of heating and basic services.
The statement also warned that the combination of acute malnutrition and bitter cold portends a health disaster and the spread of epidemics, especially among women, children and the elderly.
It is worth noting that Israel had previously refused to open the Rafah crossing in both directions for the exit of the injured from Gaza to receive treatment and the entry of humanitarian aid, in addition to the return of Palestinians who received treatment in Egyptian territory, while the US administration pressed for the opening of the vital land crossing in both directions.
