Mohammad Sio
11 June 2025•Update: 11 June 2025
ISTANBUL
Egypt said Wednesday that all foreign delegations seeking to visit the border area near Gaza, including the city of Arish and the Rafah crossing, must obtain "prior approval" through official channels.
The announcement comes as an overland North African aid convoy bound for the Gaza Strip crossed into Libya on Tuesday and is expected to reach Egypt on Thursday in an effort to spotlight a crippling Israeli siege on the Palestinian enclave.
It did not clarify whether the convoy had obtained the required approvals or not.
In a statement, Egypt's Foreign Ministry said that applications to access the region must be submitted either through Egyptian embassies abroad, foreign embassies in Cairo, or by representatives of international organizations to the Foreign Ministry.
It added that several visits by both governmental and non-governmental human rights delegations had already been facilitated through these procedures.
The ministry stressed that “no visit requests outside the established framework would be considered,” highlighting the need to safeguard visiting delegations given the situation along the Gaza border.
Egypt also reiterated that all foreign nationals must comply with local entry laws, including obtaining the necessary visas or permits in advance.
Consisting of 12 buses and 100 private cars, the convoy of more than 1,000 activists from North African countries set off from Tunisia on Monday. It is expected to reach Egypt on Thursday before reaching the city of Rafah near the border with Gaza.
Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing over 55,100 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
As Israel has continued to close all Gaza’s border crossings to humanitarian aid since early March, aid agencies have warned about the risk of famine among Gaza’s 2.4 million inhabitants.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
