Hollywood actress and humanitarian Angelina Jolie visited the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing into Gaza on Friday, accompanied by an American delegation, according to international media reports.
Egyptian officials received Jolie at Rafah, where she met humanitarian workers and volunteers operating near the crossing.
Jolie, a former special envoy for the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR, also spoke with members of the Red Crescent and with truck drivers responsible for transporting humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The Oscar-winning actress said she was “honoured” to meet the volunteers.
Egyptian media reported that the purpose of the visit was to meet injured Palestinians receiving medical treatment in Egypt and to review the flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza.
The Associated Press reported that Jolie spoke with patients at a hospital in the nearby city of Arish, a key medical hub for Palestinians evacuated from the enclave.
The visit comes amid continued uncertainty over the status of the Rafah crossing, Gaza’s only gateway to the outside world not directly controlled by Israel. The crossing was expected to reopen under the ceasefire in effect in Gaza since October but has so far remained closed.
In a joint statement issued 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.
Israel announced in early December that Rafah would be opened only for Palestinians seeking to leave Gaza, a move that Egypt quickly rejected. Cairo said it had not approved any such arrangement and reiterated its long-standing opposition to Palestinian refugees settling permanently within its borders.
Israeli officials have said that Palestinians will be allowed to exit Gaza but not re-enter until Hamas returns all hostages taken during the 7 October, 2023 attack. According to Israel, the remains of one hostage are still held in Gaza.
Since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began, 416 people have been killed and 1,142 wounded in Gaza, according to figures released by the Palestinian health ministry.
The overall Palestinian death toll from the war has reached at least 71,271, the ministry said.
Jolie stepped down from her role as a special envoy for the UN refugee agency at the end of 2022, concluding more than two decades of work with the organisation. At the time, she said she wanted to focus on a broader range of humanitarian and human rights issues.
In 2022, Jolie traveled to Yemen to meet refugees affected by years of conflict and visited Ukraine, where she spoke with civilians wounded in missile attacks.
