German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock handed over almost 10 tons of humanitarian aid to the Egyptian Red Crescent on Tuesday for the suffering Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip and will then visit the border town of Rafah.
The German head of diplomacy landed from Cairo in an Air Force A400M transporter in al-Arish, the capital of the Egyptian province of North Sinai on the Mediterranean Sea. She then planned to visit the border town of Rafah, located about 50 kilometers west between Egypt and the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
Baerbock’s visit to Rafah was initially kept secret for security reasons. The demarcation line between Egypt and Gaza passes through the city, which is mostly inhabited by Palestinians. Most of the aid supplies are delivered to the Gaza Strip through that border crossing.
Relief supplies were financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and loaded by the German armed forces in Wunstorf, Lower Saxony. The goods include sleeping mats, blankets, children’s sleeping bags and camp beds for people in Gaza living in temporary accommodation.
The goods are unloaded by the Red Crescent, and the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) transports them to the coastal belt. Distribution to the people there is planned by a Norwegian refugee organization.
