White House hopes Rafah border crossing opens Monday as Gaza death toll mounts

The U.S. voiced hope Monday that a key crossing between the besieged Gaza Strip and Egypt would be opened Monday in a move that could allow some people to flee and facilitate the delivery of badly needed humanitarian aid.

"We sure hope so," National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said when asked about Rafah opening Monday.

"Secretary Blinken has really been on a whirlwind trip trying to negotiate for safe passage out of Gaza. The key interlocutors are Egypt and Israel, obviously. We're going to keep talking to them. We're hopeful that gate can open as soon as sometime today. It hasn't yet, and we just gotta keep working at it," said Kirby of Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said earlier Monday that the Israeli government "has not taken a position that would lead to the opening of the Rafah crossing towards Gaza to allow for the entry of aid or the departure of citizens from third-party countries."

The foreign minister said he has "hope for a breakthrough in this matter," and noted that "Egypt has been striving since the beginning of the crisis in Gaza to make the Rafah crossing operational, allowing the entry of humanitarian aid that has been accumulated in al-Arish."

The Egyptian city of al-Arish is located in the Sinai Peninsula, near the Rafah border crossing.

U.S. President Joe Biden cancelled a plan trip to Colorado at the last minute on Monday "to participate in national security meetings," a White House official told pool reporters. The trip had been on the president's official schedule released by the White House Sunday night.

No additional details were immediately available.

Ten days into the conflict with Palestinian group Hamas, Israeli bombardment and blockade of the Gaza Strip has continued, with over 1 million people-almost half the total population of Gaza-having been displaced, according to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

Gaza is experiencing a dire humanitarian crisis with no electricity, while water, food, fuel, and medical supplies are running out, as civilians flee to the south following Israeli warning to evacuate northern areas.

The fighting began when Hamas on Oct. 7 initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, a multi-pronged surprise attack including a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel via land, sea, and air. It said the incursion was in retaliation for the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and increased settler violence.

Over 1,300 Israelis have since been killed.

The Israeli military then launched Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, with strikes killing over 2,750 people, including 750 children.