truce

US Vice President Kamala Harris plans to meet with Israeli Minister Benny Gantz at the White House this coming Monday, in the midst of negotiations to achieve a temporary ceasefire and increase the flow of aid to Gaza. Given the difficulty—and Israel’s obstacles—in bringing it by land, the United States has joined other countries and launched a shipment of humanitarian aid by air this Saturday. There have been more than 35,000 food rations dropped from a military aircraft, as announced by the Pentagon in a statement. For its part, the WHO has announced that Al Shifa hospital, the largest in Gaza, has returned to operation following a month following receiving supplies. Meanwhile, negotiations between Israel and Hamas for a ceasefire in the Strip continue, mediated by the US, Qatar and Egypt. This Sunday the talks will resume in Cairo. US President Joe Biden and the Foreign Minister of the Palestinian Authority expressed their hope that a ceasefire agreement can be reached before the beginning of the month of Ramadan, next March 10.

Israel has assured that it will stop negotiations for a truce in Gaza until Hamas provides a list of Israeli hostages still alive in Gaza, according to the American media Axios. The list was part of a pact between Egypt and Qatar, mediator countries for the ceasefire, and the Israeli Government to continue talks, but Israel claims to have not yet received the list.

Hamas has reported that seven of the hostages have died in attacks by the Israeli army. “We tried to keep them alive, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted on killing them all,” said the commander of the militia’s armed wing, Abu Ubaida.

On the other hand, a large part of the international community has condemned Thursday’s aggression in Gaza in which more than a hundred people died while trying to get food in a convoy in Gaza City (north). The Secretary General of the UN, António Guterres, has called for an “independent investigation” into the massacre, as has also been done by the German Government, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, or the French President, Emmanuel Macron, who has demanded that efforts be redoubled for a truce that allows the delivery of aid to the enclave. The EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, stated: “These deaths are totally unacceptable. “Depriving people of food aid constitutes a serious violation of international humanitarian law.”

Meanwhile, the European Union has announced that next week it will disburse 50 of the 82 million euros planned to finance UNRWA. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has welcomed Brussels’ decision and assures that it comes at a “critical moment”, adding that “the full disbursement of the EU contribution is key to the agency’s ability to maintain its operations in a very volatile area.”

The United States, for its part, has announced that it will resort to launching humanitarian aid from planes to try to supply Gaza, where conditions are increasingly approaching famine, as reported by US President Joe Biden. Jordan, Belgium and other countries have also airdropped humanitarian aid into Gaza. The Jordanian Armed Forces have launched three aid packages on northern Gaza; This Friday, Belgium joined Israel’s block of supplies entering by land.

The Gaza Ministry of Health has reported that four children have died in a hospital in the north of the Strip due to malnutrition and dehydration. Seven others are in critical condition. The NGO Save the Children confirmed this morning the first deaths of these children and spoke of a “massive slaughter” in the enclave. The UN refugee agency (UNRWA) has been unable to distribute food since January 23 due to the Israeli military offensive in the north of the enclave. Since the Israeli invasion of Gaza on October 7, 29,954 Palestinians have been killed and 70,325 wounded, according to Hamas. The militia, considered terrorist by the EU and the United States, has received a proposal for a 40-day ceasefire for the Strip agreed in Paris by the US, Qatar and Egypt. The truce would involve the handover of some 40 hostages kidnapped by the militia in exchange for Israel’s release of some 400 Palestinian prisoners. The political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniya, has stated that his organization shows “flexibility” in negotiations with Israel to achieve a truce, but at the same time remains prepared to continue fighting. The conditions set by the militia are the return of the civilian population to the north of the Strip and the total cessation of hostilities, which seems to be hindering the pact.

At least 576,000 people in the Gaza Strip – a quarter of the population – are “one step away from famine,” Ramesh Rajasingham, director of coordination of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said on Tuesday. acronym in English) to the United Nations Security Council. Rajasingham has also warned that widespread famine is “virtually inevitable” if action is not taken. Hamas, the organization considered terrorist by the EU and the United States that governs in fact Since 2007, Gaza has received a proposal for a 40-day ceasefire for the Strip agreed to in Paris by the US, Qatar and Egypt. The truce would involve the handover of some 40 hostages kidnapped by the militia in exchange for Israel’s release of some 400 Palestinian prisoners. The pause in fighting – it would be the second since the war began on October 7 – would also include the repair of hospitals and bakeries and the entry of 500 trucks a day with humanitarian aid.