United Nations chief Antonio Guterres, during a visit to Egypt, demands that the humanitarian convoy be allowed to pass through the Gaza Strip area to provide aid to those in need.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the dozens of aid trucks stuck at the Egypt-Gaza border were a “lifeline” and should be allowed to be deployed as hopes of entering Gaza fade.
“We absolutely need these trucks as quickly as possible and as many as necessary,” Guterres told reporters outside the Egyptian-controlled Rafah border crossing in the northern Sinai Desert.
“We’re not waiting for just one convoy to come; “We are waiting for the approval of convoys, with a significant number of trucks going to all parts of the Gaza Strip to provide sufficient support to the people,” he said.
It is estimated that more than 2 million people live in Gaza.
The humanitarian convoy was scheduled to arrive in Gaza on Friday and is now expected to be delayed by at least a day.
Members of the Egyptian Red Crescent coordinate aid to Gaza after U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited the Egyptian Rafah border crossing at Al Arish Airport in Egypt on October 20, 2023.
US President Joe Biden said in Tel Aviv on Wednesday that Israel had agreed to allow limited humanitarian aid from Egypt to flow into Gaza, with the caveats that it would be subject to inspections and that it should go to civilians and not Hamas.
“And I know that there is also an agreement between Egypt and Israel to make this possible,” Guterres said. “But these announcements were made with some conditions and some limitations.”
The top United Nations official said the organization was in talks with Egypt, Israel and the United States to clarify conditions and limit restrictions on the movement of aid trucks.
Biden speaks to Netanyahu
On Friday, President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reiterate U.S. support, which was made public in a speech to Americans on Thursday evening.
However, in the call with Netanyahu, Biden “emphasized the importance of acting in accordance with the laws of war to include protecting civilians in Gaza caught up in the conflict started by Hamas,” according to a White House statement widespread reading of the call.
During Biden’s trip to Israel this week, both leaders spoke about resolving safe passage for American citizens and other civilians in Gaza.
Also read: Biden emphasizes the ‘vital importance’ of Israel and Ukraine to US security
The Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip has been under a complete siege and constant shelling by Israel since the extremists’ attack a deadly terrorist attack on October 7 on Israeli soil, killing 1,400 people and kidnapping nearly 200 others.
No food, fuel, water or medical supplies have entered the Gaza Strip and the area has experienced a total blackout for ten days. The United Nations estimates that one million Palestinians living in Gaza followed an Israeli evacuation order and moved to the southern part of the Gaza Strip. The population is now preparing for an Israeli ground invasion.
UN chief Guterres called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire this week, saying on Friday that it would “make things much easier and safer for everyone” but that it was not a prerequisite for aid reaching Gaza.
As the United Nations waits for the green light, its agencies have flown more than 3,000 tons of aid to be transported to the southern Gaza Strip via Rafah. The World Food Program (WFP) has 1,000 tonnes of ready-to-eat canned food (enough to feed almost half a million people for a week) in or on the way to Rafah.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that more medical supplies had arrived at the Egyptian airport closest to the Rafah border crossing, enough to cover 1,000 surgeries.
Supplies are waiting to arrive in Gaza
Claims of Arab leaders
As the Tel Aviv government continues its airstrikes on areas of the Gaza Strip, Arab world leaders are calling for a cessation of hostilities between the two sides, Israel and Hamas, to prevent further bloodshed.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman called on both sides of the conflict to “stop attacks on civilians” at a joint Gulf Cooperation Council-ASEAN meeting in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, just as families were reported to be among the victims who died after seeking refuge in a church in Gaza.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian told reporters as he left an Organization of Islamic Cooperation conference in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, that “the entire Middle East is a powder keg about to explode,” criticizing states and foreign ones Leaders who, he said, “remain silent while civilians are the target of Israeli attacks.”
Algerian Justice Minister Abderrachid Tabi told the press that his country was “following the serious events.” [en territorio palestino] “as a result of the dramatic attacks on Gaza in which hundreds of people died and many more were injured.”
[Con la colaboración de los periodistas de la VOA Luis Felipe Rojas, desde Miami, y Edward Yeranian, desde El Cairo]