Tuesday’s deadly strike on a hospital in Gaza, the exact toll and responsibilities of which still remain unclear, has left the entire Arab world in mourning. While demonstrations increased on Wednesday in many countries in the area, expressing their indignation at the numerous Palestinian victims of this bombing, the international community is mobilizing to organize humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
Following the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, a siege was put in place by the Israeli army, depriving the 2.4 million Gazans of water, food and electricity.
Egypt and the United States reach an agreement on humanitarian aid to Gaza
During the night from Wednesday to Thursday, American President Joe Biden affirmed that Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi, with whom he had just spoken, had “agreed” to “let up to 20 trucks cross” the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip to deliver humanitarian aid from the Rafah crossing point.
The American president also commented that this convoy was potentially only the beginning. “We want to get as many trucks through as possible. There are, I think, about 150,” he said. A little earlier, Egypt announced a “sustainable” passage of humanitarian aid to Gaza via this checkpoint, at a time when hundreds of aid trucks are still parked at the gates of the enclave relentlessly shelled by Israel.
“If Hamas [s’en] grab or don’t let them pass […] then it will be over”, warned the American president during an interview with journalists on board his plane, during a stopover in Germany, judging that his Egyptian counterpart was “totally cooperative” and that he “deserved a lot of recognition” for his action. Joe Biden, however, clarified that this aid could probably not arrive before Friday due to work to be done on the road.
Xi Jinping says he wants to work with Egypt
Beijing continues to want to play a peacemaking role in the Middle East. After masterminding a surprise reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran last April, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Thursday during a meeting in Beijing with Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa al-Madbouly that China wants to “bring” more “stability” to the region, according to official media.
“China is willing to work with Egypt to bring more certainty and stability to the region and the world,” said the Chinese head of state according to the Xinhua news agency, in the context of the Israel-Hamas war.
Rishi Sunak to visit Israel and the Middle East this Thursday
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is traveling to Israel and several other capitals in the region on Thursday to call for avoiding an escalation of the war between Hamas and the Jewish state, his services announced Wednesday evening.
“The hospital attack” in Gaza “should be a decisive moment for leaders in the region and across the world to come together to avoid a dangerous further escalation in the region,” Rishi Sunak said in a statement. “I will ensure that the UK is at the forefront of this effort,” he added.
Expected early Thursday morning in Israel, Rishi Sunak is due to meet his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli President Isaac Herzog. Since the start of the unprecedented conflict between the Israeli army and the Palestinian armed movement Hamas, London has assured its support to the Hebrew state after the bloody attacks by Islamist militiamen which left more than 1,400 dead on its soil, while having announced an increase in UK humanitarian aid to the Palestinians by a third. Or ten million pounds sterling (11.5 million euros) additional.
An occupied US Congress building
At least a hundred demonstrators occupied a US Congress building on Wednesday evening to demand elected officials and the administration of US President Joe Biden that they push for a ceasefire in Gaza, shelled by Israel since Hamas attack on October 7.
The demonstration was organized at the call of the Jewish Voice for Peace movement. Wearing black t-shirts emblazoned with “Jews say ceasefire now” and “Not in our name,” they sat clapping and singing in the rotunda of the Cannon Building, one Congress buildings, and displayed large banners proclaiming “Ceasefire” and “Let Gaza Live”.
Before some of them headed to the Cannon Building, hundreds of people gathered on the National Mall near the Capitol to urge the Biden administration to advocate for a cease-fire. Capitol police arrested several protesters who refused to leave the premises.