U.S. President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, has agreed to open the Rafah border crossing with Gaza to allow the entry of an initial batch of humanitarian aid trucks into the besieged sector.

Biden told reporters after a phone call with his Egyptian counterpart from aboard Air Force One while returning from a visit to Israel that Sisi "agreed... to allow the passage of up to 20 trucks as a start."

He also added that these trucks are unlikely to cross before Friday because the road around the crossing needs repairs.

He explained that the United Nations will distribute this aid inside the Gaza Strip, noting that the entry of a second batch depends on "how things will go."

Additionally, the U.S. president praised his Egyptian counterpart for his "full cooperation," asserting that Sisi "deserves much appreciation" for what he is doing.

Biden was scheduled to travel from the occupied territories to Jordan on Wednesday to hold a quadripartite summit with the Jordanian monarch and the Egyptian and Palestinian presidents, but this summit was canceled after a bombing targeted a hospital in Gaza, which resulted in 500 martyrs and sparked widespread outrage in the Arab world.