Israel announced on Wednesday that it will permit essential humanitarian aid from Egypt to enter the Gaza Strip. This decision comes in response to a request made by US President Joe Biden, following a deadly blast at a Gaza hospital.
In a statement released by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, Israel expressed its willingness to allow the passage of emergency aid, specifically food, water, and medicine for the civilian population in the southern Gaza Strip. However, they made it clear that the aid must not reach Hamas, the militant group they are currently at war with.
Israel also demanded Red Cross access to around 200 hostages taken by Hamas militants. President Biden supported this call and announced that the US would contribute $100 million in aid for the West Bank and Gaza. He emphasized that the aid should go to civilians and warned that if Hamas diverts or steals it, the assistance would be discontinued.
The cause of the explosion at the Gaza City hospital remains disputed. While Israel attributes it to a misfired rocket by Palestinian militants, Palestinian officials claim it was an Israeli airstrike. The death toll and the cause of the blast have not been independently verified, but the Hamas-controlled ministry of health in Gaza reported 471 deaths due to the explosion.
President Biden’s visit to Israel was intended to show solidarity and prevent the conflict from spreading. However, it was overshadowed by the hospital blast, which led Arab leaders to cancel a scheduled summit with the US president.
Various leaders in the region, including Jordan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Iran, have blamed Israel for the explosion. They condemned the incident as a war crime and called for Egypt to open the Rafah border crossing to allow aid into Gaza. Israel has imposed a siege on Gaza, cutting off essential supplies and necessitating the displacement of inhabitants to the south.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire, with no supplies currently entering the region. Aid trucks are awaiting permission to cross into Gaza from the Egyptian side of the border. Israel’s objective in the conflict is to eliminate Hamas’s leadership from Gaza.
According to Palestinian health officials, the Israeli bombardment of Gaza has resulted in the deaths of 3,300 people, while Israeli authorities state that more than 1,400 of those killed were civilians in communities near Gaza.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency stated that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is extremely critical due to the lack of supplies. Furthermore, despite Israel’s evacuation warning for the northern part of Gaza, some people have returned due to the absence of alternative accommodations.
Additional reporting by Heba Saleh, Bita Ghaffari, and Najmeh Bozorgmehr
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