Angelina Jolie visited the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing on Friday, meeting Red Crescent workers and truck drivers waiting to deliver humanitarian aid into Gaza. AFP journalists reported that the Hollywood actor arrived with an American delegation and was welcomed by both current and former officials.
Jolie said she was honoured to meet the volunteers working at the border. One Red Crescent worker told her that thousands of aid trucks remain stalled at the crossing, unable to enter the devastated enclave.
Local media reported that Jolie, a former special envoy for the UN refugee agency, travelled to the area to check on injured Palestinians transferred to Egypt and to assess the flow of aid into Gaza. Neither Jolie nor Egyptian authorities have issued an official statement about the visit.
The Rafah crossing was expected to reopen under the ceasefire that has been in place since October, but it remains shut. On Friday, Egypt and six other countries including Saudi Arabia released a joint statement urging the international community to pressure Israel to lift restrictions on the entry and distribution of essential supplies.
In early December, Israel said Rafah would open only for people wishing to leave Gaza, a claim Egypt quickly denied.
Jolie stepped down from her UN role in late 2022 after more than two decades of service, saying she wanted to focus on broader humanitarian work.
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