During her visit to El Arish Airport, the European Union President von der Leyen commended Egypt’s crucial role in facilitating humanitarian aid to Gaza.

She particularly praised Egypt’s efforts at the Rafah border crossing and establishing the El Arish hub for storing essential supplies. As the largest donor to Palestinians, the European Union has significantly increased its humanitarian aid and organized multiple flights to deliver supplies. Coordination with Egyptian authorities, UNWRA, and the Egyptian Red Crescent has been pivotal in this effort.

During her meeting with President El-Sisi, President von der Leyen discussed regional peace efforts and emphasized the importance of dialogue and the two-state solution in achieving lasting peace in the Middle East. She also plans to meet Jordan’s King Abdullah to further these efforts.

President von der Leyen acknowledged that the volume of aid reaching Gaza needs to increase and expressed support for Cyprus’s proposal to set up a maritime corridor to facilitate this. The European Union is working closely with the Cypriot authorities to define the logistical parameters of such a corridor and stands ready to provide technical expertise in all relevant fields as needed.

The European Union is also supporting Egypt in helping wounded Palestinians, providing medical equipment such as anesthesia machines from Sweden, and ventilators, oxygen concentrators, and ultrasound machines from the European Union emergency reserve based in Germany, Hungary, and the Netherlands.