Angelina Jolie visited the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing into Gaza on Friday, meeting with Red Crescent workers and truck drivers delivering humanitarian aid, AFP reporters said.
Accompanied by an American delegation and greeted by former and current officials, Jolie said she was “honoured” to meet aid volunteers at the crossing.
A Red Crescent volunteer told the Oscar winner that “there are thousands of aid trucks just waiting” at the border crossing.
According to local media, the actor and former special envoy for the U.N. refugee agency made the visit to see the condition of injured Palestinians transferred to Egypt and to look into aid deliveries into the devastated territory.
Jolie and the Egyptian authorities have yet to comment on the visit officially.
The Rafah border crossing was set to be reopened under the cease-fire in effect in Gaza since October, but has so far remained closed.
In a joint statement on Friday, Egypt and six other countries, including Saudi Arabia, “urged the international community to pressure Israel, as the occupying power, to immediately lift the constraints on the entry and distribution of essential supplies” to Gaza.
In early December, Israel announced that the Rafah crossing would be opened only for those wishing to leave Gaza, prompting Cairo to swiftly deny that it had approved such a move.
Jolie, one of Hollywood’s most iconic figures, stepped down from her role as special envoy for the United Nations refugee agency at the end of 2022 after more than 20 years of service, saying she wanted to work on broader humanitarian issues.
