Rafiah border closed
Rafiah border closedIsrael news photo: Flash 90

Iran plans to send aid to Gaza after Egypt said it would allow the shipment to enter the territory, an Iranian diplomatic source said on Friday, according to AFP.

The official IRNA news agency said Cairo had agreed to transfer humanitarian aid bound for the coastal enclave, citing a foreign ministry source in Tehran.

The source said a first Iranian Red Crescent shipment of 100 tons of medicine and food would be flown "soon" to Cairo.

"The package weighs 100 tons and consists of food and medication," IRNA quoted the source as saying.

Tehran said at the end of July it had sent a first shipment of aid to Cairo that was awaiting authorization to enter Gaza via the Rafiah crossing.

United Nations humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said during a visit to Iran on Sunday that it will take months to repair damage to the UN's infrastructure caused by the Israeli bombardment.

A total of 97 UNRWA installations, including health and food distribution centers as well as schools, have been damaged in the war between Israel and the Hamas movement which controls the territory.

Iran does not recognize Israel and provides financial and military assistance to Islamist Palestinian terrorist groups.

Iranian officials have said that Tehran provided Hamas and Islamic Jihad with the technology necessary to make rockets.

The head of Islamic Jihad recently claimed that his group has “many more surprises up its sleeve” for Israel, including Iranian-made “Zelzal” missiles, an unguided missile that can carry a payload of up to 600 kg (1,323 pounds) of explosives for a distance of up to 200 kilometers.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)