Israel says it will open the Kerem Shalom border crossing between Israel and Gaza for the inspection of aid trucks in the "next few days" as the United Nation's aid chief hailed the "promising signs" pointing toward this development.
Col. Elad Goren made the announcement during a news briefing Thursday organized by Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, more commonly known as COGAT.
He did not specify whether the trucks will be allowed to travel to Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing itself after the inspection or whether they will need to travel through the Rafah crossing in Egypt, which is already being used to facilitate aid deliveries.
"We will open Kerem Shalom just for inspection. It will happen in the next few days," Goren said.
Goren, who is head of the Civil Department at COGAT, said it would be essential to open the crossing if Israel wanted to inspect more than 200 trucks a day bound for Gaza.
A few hours later, UN aid chief Martin Griffiths told a briefing in Geneva that there are "promising signs" indicating that the much-debated crossing would "be able to open soon."
Griffiths also did not provide any details regarding what role exactly the crossing would perform if opened.
The UN has been calling for several weeks for the crossing to be opened, saying it would facilitate deliveries of more vital humanitarian aid to Gaza.