Israel reopens Gaza border crossing for aid trucks

The Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday said that the Israeli office for coordinating Gaza affairs had reopened the Karem Shalom border crossing from Egypt. Aid trucks began arriving at the crossing early Wednesday morning, according to the statement.

Why was the crossing closed? Hamas had fired roughly 18 rockets from the Rafah area toward the crossing on Tuesday, according to an IDF statement. The Israeli military said it closed the crossings after that attack, which it said was the second attack on the area in recent days.

What’s happening with the Gaza aid pier rolled out by U.S. President Joe Biden? The pier is built and ready for operation, the Department of Defense said on Tuesday. However, weather delays have prevented American troops from transporting aid to the pier. Army ships will begin transporting roughly 90 aid trucks to Gaza once weather conditions permit.

What about U.S. weapons deliveries to Israel? President Biden paused a shipment of bombs for Israel over concern about the escalation of military operations in Gaza, he confirmed to CNN recently. The pause in aid was earlier reported by Axios and other media outlets. U.S. officials reportedly stressed that the paused shipment did not signal a larger change in policy toward Israel. U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller earlier this week refused to comment on reports about the shipment being paused.

Dig deeper: Read Christina Grube’s report in The Sift from yesterday about how Israel has begun targeted military operations in Gaza.