Israel has closed its commercial and pedestrian crossings into Gaza, forcing humanitarian assistance to travel through Egypt’s Rafah crossing.

The security cabinet approved the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza through its Kerem Shalom crossing for the first time since the Gaza war started on 7 October.

It took that step during a visit by US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan who pressed officials to open the crossing, which until the war had served as the main commercial passage for goods traveling in and out of Gaza.

Sullivan called the move “a significant step.”

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