Egypt has sent a massive engineering equipment and crews to participate in the Gaza Strip reconstruction efforts after last month's devastating Israeli bombing campaign crossed the Rafah border crossing on Friday, state-owned MENA agency reported. The crews and equipment, which includes a large number of trucks, bulldozers and cranes, will participate in removing debris and rubble from the buildings that were destroyed by the 11-day Israeli air strikes and bombings of the strip last month. The re-construction convoy comes under a pledge by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi to contribute $500 million as part of an Egyptian initiative for reconstructing the Gaza Strip, with the participation of Egyptian companies, in order to mitigate the suffering of Palestinians and restore normalcy in the Gaza Strip. Last month, the Israeli bombing campaign of Gaza - deemed the most serious Israeli assault on the strip since 2014 - killed more than 250 Palestinians, injured 1,900 and destroyed 2,000 residential and commercial buildings, leaving thousands homeless. The densely populated Gaza Strip is home to two million Palestinians, most of whom are refugees from the 1948 war. On 21 May, Egypt mediated a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas along with other Palestinian factions. Since then, Cairo has launched intensive diplomatic efforts to cement the ceasefire and lay the ground work for the resumption of peace talks between the Palestinians and Israelis. Meanwhile, Egypt has already sent a ton of medical and humanitarian aid to Gaza to help the Palestinians deal with the aftermath of Israel's deadly offensive on the strip. Egypt also continues to open its Rafah crossing with the Gaza Strip to allow stranded Palestinians and humanitarian cases to cross the border in both directions. Medical and administrative teams are stationed at the terminal to facilitate the passage of the injured and their escorts to hospitals.
