Egypt Agrees to Reopen Gaza Border for Aid Delivery as Humanitarian Crisis Deepens: Latest Updates on Regional Tensions and Demonstrations

The United States announced that Egypt had agreed to reopen a border crossing point with Gaza to allow the delivery of aid, as the humanitarian crisis continues to worsen in the Palestinian enclave, besieged by Israel , and that demonstrations have shaken the Middle East since a Gazan hospital was hit by a strike on Tuesday evening. The Al-Ahli hospital explosion fueled regional tensions and fears of an escalation of conflict, as Palestinian officials said 471 people were killed in what they denounced as an Israeli strike. Israel and the United States, its long-time ally, blamed the incident on a missed rocket attack by Palestinian fighters from inside Gaza. The latter rejected these accusations. Via the social network the authorities of the Palestinian enclave. Against a backdrop of outcry over the incident, demonstrations have since shaken various places in the region and beyond. Rallies took place in the occupied West Bank, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, and even in Tunisia but also in Washington. Israeli troops shot dead two Palestinian teenagers during protests in the West Bank, Palestinian officials said, while Lebanese security forces used tear gas and a water cannon to disperse demonstrators gathered near the American embassy and who were throwing projectiles. “LONG-LASTING” AID PROMISED Aboard Air Force One which was bringing him back to the United States after a barely eight-hour visit to Israel, American President Joe Biden spoke Wednesday evening by telephone with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sissi. He then told journalists accompanying him on this trip that an agreement had been reached to open the Rafah border crossing point, in the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula, to allow twenty trucks carrying humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. While the enclave is under total blockade and besieged by unprecedented airstrikes by the Israeli army in retaliation for the Hamas attack on October 7, the approximately 2.3 million inhabitants are in dire need of food, water, fuel and other essential products. Joe Biden did not specify when the Rafah crossing would reopen. A White House spokesperson indicated that this would happen within several days, once necessary repairs were made to this axis. In an attempt to avoid an escalation of the conflict, the American president was initially scheduled to speak in person with his Egyptian counterpart and other Arab leaders. But the summit planned in Amman following his visit to Tel Aviv was canceled by Jordan after the strike on the hospital. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected in Israel this Thursday, where he will offer his condolences for the civilian losses in Israel and Gaza and will work to de-escalate the conflict, his services said. If the agreement communicated by Washington marks progress, the quantity of aid announced remains very far from the needs indicated. The UN humanitarian affairs director, Martin Griffiths, told the Security Council on Wednesday that the UN objective was to have around 100 aid trucks arriving daily in Gaza, as was the case before the start of the conflict. Egypt, which had previously indicated that the Rafah crossing was not closed but inoperable due to Israeli measures, announced that Abdel Fattah al Sissi and Joe Biden had agreed to provide aid to Gaza ” sustainable manner” and to coordinate international humanitarian efforts under UN supervision. “FUNDAMENTAL DIGNITY OF EVERY HUMAN LIFE” During the US president’s visit, Israel announced that it would allow food, water and medicine to be delivered to the southern Gaza Strip via the ‘Egypt. Under high international pressure to obtain from Israel a commitment to preserve the fate of civilians in Gaza, Joe Biden also promised new American aid of 100 million dollars for the Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. An adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CNN that the Jewish state had agreed to allow aid to be delivered to Gaza via Egypt “in principle”. “We do not want to see Hamas steal this aid intended for the civilian population,” added Mark Negev. “It’s a real problem.” Israel has reiterated that no aid will be authorized via its border with Gaza, to the north of the enclave, until Hamas has freed the approximately 200 hostages kidnapped during the October 7 incursion into several Israeli localities, which left 1,400 dead. According to the latest report from the Gaza Ministry of Health, Israeli strikes carried out in retaliation for the Hamas attack left 3,478 dead and more than 12,000 injured. Entire neighborhoods of the enclave were ravaged. Joe Biden told reporters aboard Air Force One that he had been frank with Israeli officials about the need to facilitate the delivery of aid to Gaza. He also plans to transmit as quickly as possible to the American Congress a request for additional and unprecedented aid of several billion dollars for Israel – the prolonged absence of a ‘speaker’ in the House of Representatives, however, prevents any vote for it. ‘hour. According to a source familiar with the matter, the White House tenant plans to request $10 billion in aid for Israel on Friday. In Tel Aviv, Joe Biden assured that the United States would do everything possible to guarantee Israel’s security while urging Israeli officials not to let themselves be consumed by rage, stressing that the vast majority of Palestinians do not were not affiliated with Hamas. “What sets us apart from terrorists is that we believe in the fundamental dignity of every human life,” the US president said. If this is not respected, “then the terrorists win”, he added. (Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza, Steve Holland in Tel Aviv and aboard Air Force One, with contributions from Washington and Jerusalem bureaus; writing by Jean Terzian)
2023-10-19 01:52:51


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