02/11/2023 (Agence Europe) – On Wednesday, 1 November, European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič was pleased that the Rafah border crossing had opened, announcing that the EU “stands ready to help repatriate European citizens as well as to evacuate Palestinian patients” through the Union Civil Protection Mechanism. He also repeated his appeal to “all involved to ensure safe and unrestricted humanitarian aid at scale needed for all civilians that continue to be trapped in the Gaza Strip”. That same day, an EU Humanitarian Air Bridge flight, chartered by UNFPA and the WHO, took off from Belgium with 45 tonnes of medicine and health kits bound for Egypt so that these supplies can then be transported to Gaza (see EUROPE 13281/18). According to the European Commission, “over 263 tonnes of aid” has reportedly already been positioned in Egypt in advance. (AN)