Mourad Higazy

Ninety aid trucks from Egyptian territory crossed via the Karam Abu Salem and the Awja crossings preparing for their entry into Gaza, an administrative official at the Awja crossing and a source in the Egyptian Red Crescent Society told Mada Masr on Sunday afternoon. The trucks were the first to leave Egypt after a long awaited ceasefire came into effect shortly after 11 am on Sunday morning.

A delegation from the Emirati renewable energy company Masdar visited several sites in Rafah and Sheikh Zuwayed in North Sinai last Tuesday, North Sinai Senator Fayez Abu Harb told Mada Masr. The company, in which the UAE government investment fund owns a majority share, plans to build a wind power plant to support Egypt’s national electricity grid, according to Abu Harb. The visit was arranged by Sinai businessman Ibrahim al-Argany rather than an Egyptian state body, according to Abu Harb.

Egypt has bolstered its security on the borders of the Gaza Strip over the past two weeks. Around 40 tanks and armored personnel carriers have been deployed to Egyptian Rafah, according to Egyptian security sources cited anonymously by Reuters. Around a week ago, Egypt also began to fortify the area, according to displaced people taking shelter in Palestinian Rafah and an administrative source on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing who spoke to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity.