Aid trucks at Rafah wait for green light to enter Gaza as ceasefire begins

As the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect on Sunday, Egypt said it would open its Rafah border with Gaza to allow humanitarian aid into the territory.

The crossing is the enclave’s main gateway to the outside world but has been closed since the Israeli army took over Palestinian side last May.

Speaking at a news conference with his Nigerian counterpart, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said Cairo was working to "mobilise the biggest amount of aid into the Gaza Strip".

“We have agreed on allowing 600 trucks daily inside the Strip, including 50 fuel trucks. And we hope that 300 trucks go to the north, because the situation is worse and more disastrous there than the rest of the enclave," he said.

Officials from Egypt and Israel said an Israeli delegation from the military and its Shin Bet internal security agency went to Cairo on Friday to discuss the reopening of the border.

Hundreds of trucks carrying food, water, and medicine have been lined up on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing since Friday.

They are waiting for the green light to take the life-saving aid into the enclave where Palestinians have suffered near-starvation conditions during the Israeli blockade.

“Of course, the most important now in addition to the sustainability of the ceasefire is to fix the disastrous humanitarian situation inside the Gaza Strip," said Abdelatty.

The start of the ceasefire was delayed by just over two hours on Sunday, as Israel waited to receive the names of the three hostages expected to be released later in the day.

The agreement will pause the fighting after 15 months of war and see the release of dozens of hostages held by the militants in the Gaza Strip and hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

Egypt, which has a peace agreement with Israel and shares a border with Hamas-ruled Gaza, has been a key mediator between the two sides for years and a leading player in the current ceasefire negotiations.