A WAREHOUSE OF REJECTED GOODS
Drivers coming from Egypt can not go on to the Gaza aspect of the Rafah crossing, which had been operated by the Hamas-run border authority however is now closed. As a substitute, they path to the Israeli crossing of Kerem Shalom, about three kilometres to the south, the place shipments bear checks.
Kamel Atteiya Mohamed, an Egyptian truck driver, estimated that of the 200 or 300 vans attempting to get by this route day-after-day, solely 30 to 50 make it.
“They inform you, for instance, that the pallet does not have a sticker, the pallet is tilted, or the pallet is open from the highest. That is no purpose for us to return it,” he instructed Reuters. He mentioned that whereas the Egyptian crossing was open day and evening, drivers usually arrived at Kerem Shalom solely to search out it closed, because it doesn’t usually function past weekday enterprise hours.
“Each day it is like this,” he mentioned. “Actually, we’re fed up.”
Whereas COGAT didn’t handle particular questions in regards to the driver’s remarks and allegations of rigid working hours, it mentioned that “a whole bunch of truckloads of assist nonetheless await assortment by the UN and worldwide organizations” on the Palestinian aspect of the border crossings.
A logistics website arrange by the Egyptian Purple Crescent close to El Arish city, 40 km from the border, the place shipments coming from Egypt to Gaza are loaded, has a tarp tent warehouse dedicated to items turned again from the border.
