A “humanitarian catastrophe” is currently unfolding in the Gaza Strip, Guterres said, calling for “global action to end this terrible nightmare”. There must be “much more” aid for the 2.4 million residents of the Palestinian territory. People need a “sustained supply of aid.”
King Abdullah II of Jordan, whose country, like summit host Egypt, has been a mediator in the Middle East conflict for decades, also called for an “immediate ceasefire”. The “relentless bombing of Gaza” is “cruel and relentless at every level”, said King Abdullah II. “It is collective punishment for a beleaguered and defenseless population. It is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law. It is a war crime. .” Because the world is silent, the message to the Arab world is: “Palestinian lives are worth less than Israeli lives. Our lives are worth less than others.”
In turn, the President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, emphasized that the Palestinians also had “the right to their own state”. This demand was also made by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who called for an “end to the Israeli occupation” of the Palestinian territories. “We will never leave. We will never leave our lands. We will remain firm in our lands until the end,” Abbas said.
There was no hope of détente at the conference, also because Israel was not invited. EU Council President Charles Michel and heads of government and foreign ministers from several European countries also attended the summit. Representatives from the USA, Russia, China, Japan and Canada were also present.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock was present for Germany. She also called for more humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip and called for a distinction to be made “between terrorists and the civilian population”. The fight against Hamas must be carried out “with the greatest possible consideration for the humanitarian situation of innocent men, women and children in the Gaza Strip”. At the same time, she once again emphasized Israel’s right to self-defense.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has called on the international community to draw up a roadmap for a two-state solution. “What is happening in Gaza must not become a much bigger conflict, a religious war, a clash of civilizations,” said Meloni in his speech at the summit. “I have the impression that this was the true objective of the Hamas attack, not the defense of the rights of the Palestinian people, but an attack that would create an insurmountable gap between the Palestinians and the Israelis. We must not fall into this trap.”
The “Cairo Peace Summit” took place just hours after the arrival of the first deliveries of international aid to the Gaza Strip. In recent days, dozens of trucks have accumulated on the border between Egypt and the area controlled by Hamas, which Israel attacks daily since the major attack by the radical Islamic Palestinian organization and which it has also completely isolated.
On Saturday, the first of a total of 20 trucks crossed the border in Rafah and arrived in the Gaza Strip shortly afterwards. After the Egyptian Red Crescent trucks passed through, the border crossing was initially closed again. On the Palestinian side, 36 empty trucks also crossed the pass towards Egypt, where they would be loaded with more aid supplies.
The opening of the border for the delivery of humanitarian aid was brokered by US President Joe Biden. Israel agreed on the condition that 20 trucks were initially allowed to enter the Gaza Strip. Aid can therefore only be distributed to civilians in southern Palestinian territory and cannot fall into the hands of Hamas. According to the UN, at least a hundred trucks with aid supplies would have to arrive in the Gaza Strip every day to provide basic supplies to the population.
The Rafah border crossing is the only entry into the Gaza Strip that is not controlled by Israel. After deliveries began, UN emergency aid coordinator Martin Griffith emphasized that this first convoy should not be the last. “I am confident that this delivery will be the beginning of sustained efforts to provide essential supplies to the people of Gaza,” he said in Cairo.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also called on “all parties to keep the Rafah border crossing open and thereby allow aid deliveries to continue.” This is “a basic requirement for the well-being of the people of the Gaza Strip”. In turn, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) explained on the X online service that it was “good and important that the first humanitarian aid now reaches the people in Gaza.
Hamas launched a major attack against Israel on October 7 and, according to Israeli sources, killed at least 1,400 people and kidnapped around 200 hostages in the Gaza Strip. In response to the attack, Israel isolated the Gaza Strip and launched massive airstrikes there. According to Hamas, at least 4,385 people have been killed and 13,561 injured in the area since the start of the war.
Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) reiterated on Saturday on X that the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel should be condemned in the strongest possible terms. “Israel has every right to self-defense under international law. There is never any justification for terror”, wrote the Chancellor. “Hamas is also taking the civilian population of Gaza hostage for its actions.”