A WAREHOUSE OF REJECTED GOODS
Drivers coming from Egypt can not go on to the Gaza facet of the Rafah crossing, which had been operated by the Hamas-run border authority however is now closed.
As an alternative, they path to the Israeli crossing of Kerem Shalom, about 3km to the south, the place shipments bear checks.
Kamel Atteiya Mohamed, an Egyptian truck driver, estimated that of the 200 or 300 vans making an attempt to get by this route daily, 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 night time, drivers usually arrived at Kerem Shalom solely to search out it closed, because it doesn’t usually function past weekday enterprise hours.
“On daily basis it is like this,” he mentioned. “Actually, we’re fed up.”
Whereas COGAT didn’t handle particular questions concerning the driver’s remarks and allegations of rigid working hours, it mentioned that “a whole lot of truckloads of help nonetheless await assortment by the UN and worldwide organisations” on the Palestinian facet of the border crossings.
A logistics website arrange by the Egyptian Crimson Crescent close to El Arish city, 40km 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.
