Israel decided on Friday to open the Erez land crossing and use the port of Ashdod to allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. This came after a phone call described as “harsh” between US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who confirmed that the measures he had taken were “temporary.”
Published on: 04/05/2024 – 10:16
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In light of the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip, US President Joe Biden threatened Tel Aviv to make the support provided for the Israeli attack on Gaza contingent on concrete steps, and thus asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to open new corridors to deliver aid to the Strip “fully and quickly.”
A child from Gaza suffering from severe malnutrition © Screen image from France 24
This came during a phone call filled with “tension” between an American president facing the anger of Muslim voters and an Israeli prime minister who repeatedly refused to open new humanitarian corridors to deliver aid to Gaza.
For its part, the White House confirmed that Biden made clear that “United States policy regarding Gaza will be determined by our assessment of the immediate action that Israel will take regarding putting an end to these killings and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza.”
“We want a massive increase in humanitarian aid.”
In this context, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby admitted that there was “increasing frustration” with the Israeli Prime Minister. “Yes, there is growing frustration,” he said in response to a question about whether the phone call reflected Biden’s frustration with Netanyahu’s failure to respond to Washington’s requests.
Displaced Palestinians receive food aid at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) center in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on January 28, 2024, © AFP
On the other hand, Kirby did not confirm whether stopping military support for Israel was among the options on the table, leaving Israel little room for maneuver. However, he added: “What we are looking forward to seeing and hope to see here in the coming hours and days is a massive increase in humanitarian access, the opening of additional crossings, and a reduction in violence against civilians and aid workers.”
“These steps must be implemented completely and quickly.”
It appears that Netanyahu has responded to Joe Biden’s demand, as the Israeli government announced on Friday that it would “temporarily” allow the entry of new humanitarian aid into northern Gaza, which is threatened by famine, through the port of Ashdod and the Erez land crossing, as well as an increase in aid from Jordan through the Kerem Shalom crossing.
The White House was quick to welcome the steps, which it said were “taken at Biden’s request and must now be implemented fully and quickly.”
For several months, Israel has been subjected to increasing international pressure due to the ongoing human losses of the war against Hamas and Palestinian citizens, as the number of war victims reached approximately 33,037 people, the majority of whom are women and children, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.
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This war also led to the outbreak of a serious humanitarian crisis due to the failure of food and medical aid to reach those affected and victims.
Biden faces pressure months before the elections
The people of the northern Gaza Strip have been forced to suffice with an average of 245 calories per day, the equivalent of less than a can of beans, since January, according to Oxfam.
Charities have often accused Israel of restricting aid and targeting humanitarian convoys. The risks posed to efforts to avoid famine emerged this week with an Israeli air strike that killed seven aid workers, most of them foreigners, who were active in distributing food aid in Gaza.
For his part, Biden, who supports Israel, faces increasing pressure months before the US presidential elections, against the backdrop of his handling of the Gaza war. Allies are pressing him to make billions of dollars in military aid sent by Washington contingent on Netanyahu listening to calls for calm.
Blinken: “Israel is not like Hamas”
A truck carrying humanitarian aid from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) arrives at the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip on November 22, 2023. © AFP
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said after the call between Biden and Netanyahu: “Unless we see the changes we need to see (from the Israeli side), there will be changes in our policy.” The American minister stressed from Brussels that “Israel is not like Hamas,” and that democratic countries must assign “the highest value” to human life. “If we lose this reverence for human life, we risk becoming indistinguishable from those we encounter,” he concluded.
France 24
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2024-04-05 08:16:30
