Palestinians blockaded in the Gaza Strip are desperately awaiting the arrival of trucks of humanitarian aid promised by the United States and Egypt this Thursday, on the 13th day of a war that has shown no reprieve despite intensive diplomatic efforts.
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid to the small area of 2.4 million inhabitants have been blocked for several days at the Rafah crossing, on the border with Egypt.
US President Joe Biden, who traveled to Israel on Wednesday, stated that his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fatah al Sisi, accepted the entry of up to 20 trucks into Gaza.
This will be the first aid convoy to the Gaza Strip since October 7, when the Palestinian group Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, killing 1,400 people, most of them civilians, and taking nearly 200 hostages.
Since then, Israel has placed the area under complete siege, with a wave of aerial bombardments and the blockade of the Palestinian enclave, in addition to thousands of soldiers preparing for a ground invasion.
The situation in Gaza is critical, with hospitals full and more than 3,450 dead and 12,500 injured since the start of Israeli reprisals, according to figures released by the territory’s Health Ministry, controlled by Hamas.
Entire neighborhoods have been destroyed and residents have no water, food or electricity.
Dozens of people gathered at the Rafah border crossing this Thursday morning awaiting permission to cross the border.
“We are prepared with our bags,” said 40-year-old Mohammed, who works for an Italian institution and has been waiting with his family for three days.
After the visit to Israel and many telephone contacts with the Egyptian authorities, Biden announced that a limited number of trucks would have to pass through the Rafah checkpoint.
“We want as many trucks as possible to pass through. I believe there are almost 150,” the American president said on Wednesday evening.
However, Biden emphasized that the arrival of a second convoy will depend on “how the distribution of the first will happen.”
“If Hamas seizes the aid and does not let it go (…) then that is the end,” he warned during a stopover in Germany on his return to Washington.
During his visit to Israel, the President of the United States absolved Israel of any responsibility for the bombing of the Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza. Palestinians and Israelis exchange accusations over the attack.
The Palestinian territory’s health ministry said the bombing killed 471 people, including displaced people who went to hospital to seek refuge.
However, a European intelligence source interviewed by AFP said the number of victims would be much lower.
“There are not 200 or 500 deaths, maybe a few dozen, probably between 10 and 50,” said the source, who requested anonymity. Israeli army spokesman Jonathan Conricus also questioned the death toll of 471 released by Hamas: “Where are all the bodies?” he asked.
Photos and videos taken by AFP show dozens of bodies under sheets or in black bags.
“Based on the information we have so far, it appears that (the attack on the Ahli Arab hospital) was the result of an out-of-control rocket fired by a terrorist group from Gaza,” Biden said, citing evidence quoted from the Pentagon.
Israel claims it has “proof” that Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian Islamist movement, was responsible for the attack on the hospital.
According to Islamic Jihad, a group affiliated with Hamas and considered terrorist by the United States, the European Union and Israel, a bomb dropped by an Israeli Defense Forces aircraft caused the tragedy.
Thousands of people protested in Arab countries on Wednesday to express their outrage over the attack, which demonstrators blamed on Israel despite the country’s denial.
Following the attack, large demonstrations took place in Amman, Tunis, Beirut, Damascus and other capitals, leading to calls for a “day of anger” across the Arab world.
Several countries are taking action to prevent a regional fire. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will visit Israel this Thursday to call for an end to the military escalation.
Egypt’s president and King Abdullah II of Jordan will discuss the conflict at a meeting in Cairo next Thursday.
The two countries, which have acted as mediators between Israelis and Palestinians on several occasions, oppose the “forced relocation” of Palestinians to their territory.
Tensions also remain on the border with Lebanon, where the Israeli army and the Hezbollah group are carrying out attacks, and in the West Bank, where 64 Palestinians, including 18 children, have been killed since October 7, according to the latest UN data perished. .
Source: DN
