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After visiting Israel and having a separate phone call with the Egyptian President, US President Joe Biden says the Rafah crossing from Egypt into Gaza will open. Israel has agreed that it will allow aid in, as long as it doesn't go to Hamas militants, which Israel and many Western countries consider a terrorist organisation.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been waiting for vital supplies in Gaza with hundreds of trucks waiting in Egypt. Hussain Haridy, the former Assistant to the Egyptian Foreign Minister, and a former Egyptian ambassador to Spain and Pakistan told Newsday that the aid is close to be allowed to cross but that Egypt is ''making repairs on the road leading to the Rafah crossing.'' He says the humanitarian convoys "could be rolling in Thursday evening or Friday morning".

He says the Israelis have attached conditions to the convoys as they want to inspect the shipments, and that the UN will supervise the operation and distribution of the supplies. However, fuel will not be included as Israel says it fears Hamas will use the fuel to manufacture rockets. Palestinian people will not be allowed to leave Gaza into Egypt as the Egyptian president does not want to see a "forced displacement" of them.

(Picture: Palestinians, some with foreign passports, hoping to cross into Egypt and others waiting for aid at the Rafah crossing in the southern Gaza strip, October 16, 2023. Credit Majdi Fathi/Nur / Getty Images)

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