On both sides of Rafah, the inactive border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, people gather waiting for one word: go. Dozens of Palestinians with dual nationality are waiting in Gaza, who stood in front of the terminal this Monday in the hope of finally being evacuated by their countries after several days with their suitcases packed. In Egypt, dozens of trucks remain parked with humanitarian aid, sent by countries such as Jordan or Turkey, about 40 kilometers from the terminal, in the city of El Arish. His entry is being negotiated against the clock in the offices, possibly linked to the fate of the almost 200 Israeli hostages in the hands of the Palestinian militias.
Meanwhile, in Gaza even the bags to transport bodies are running out, after 10 days of intense bombings that have caused more than 2,800 deaths, according to the head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini.
Although Israel does not control Rafah, any agreement needs its green light. For this reason, the Secretary of State of the United States, Antony Blinken, met this Monday in Jerusalem with the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, after passing through Egypt. On Sunday, before getting on the plane in Cairo, Blinken told journalists that Rafah “will open,” but this Monday it was still closed, with water, electricity and fuel running out in a Strip with half of the population displaced. . At the gates, an unprecedented military deployment was waiting for the warning signal to begin a ground invasion.
“The United Nations has stocks available food, water, medical supplies and fuel in Egypt, Jordan, the West Bank and Israel. They can be shipped in a few hours. To ensure delivery, our staff must be able to bring these supplies to and through Gaza safely and without impediments,” stressed the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres.
Also traveling to the area is the United Nations emergency aid coordinator, Martin Griffiths, who has reported “serious talks” with Israel, Egypt and other parties to introduce aid into Gaza. “I am going to the area to try to help in the negotiations, to witness and express my solidarity with the extraordinary bravery of many thousands of humanitarian workers who are holding up and are still there helping people in Gaza and the West Bank,” he said. .
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Negotiations stalled
Despite the urgency of the situation, the negotiations remain stalled, with a succession of contradictory information, denials and accusations from one another. Egypt, whose main concern is to avoid a wave of refugees fleeing the bombings, points to Israel and declares itself “fully prepared” for aid to flow and the lucky ones with foreign passports to leave. “Unfortunately, until now, the Israeli Government has not adopted a position that allows the opening of the border crossing from the Gaza side to allow the entry of aid or the exit of citizens of third countries,” his representative indicated in a press conference. Foreign Minister Sameh Shukry. “We hope that there will be progress […] but unfortunately there is nothing new so far. “This is very serious.”
Embarking on an all-out war to end Hamas, Israel does not want a single drop of fuel to end up in the hands of the armed Islamist movement. “Israel has not agreed to provide humanitarian aid to Hamas. “We are at war and we will continue with full force until victory,” Netanyahu’s office clarified, after the meeting with Blinken, the newspaper reports. Haaretz.
The director of Hamas’s office of relations with Palestinians abroad, Khaled Meshaal, assured this Monday that his organization wants the release of 6,000 Palestinian prisoners, men and women, currently in Israeli jails, in exchange for the Israeli hostages in its can.
Signs are multiplying that the entry of humanitarian aid for civilians depends on the fate of the 199 hostages that Hamas and Islamic Jihad took in their massive attack on Saturday the 7th, according to the new figure released this Monday by the Israeli authorities. Blinken has called for both “facilitating the arrival of humanitarian aid to civilians” and a “rapid and safe release” of the hostages. “Humanitarian aid to Gaza? Not a single electrical outlet will work, nor will a water tap be turned on, nor will a truck with fuel enter until the Israeli hostages are returned home,” Energy Minister Israel Katz said last Friday. The head of Culture, Miki Zohar, also opposes: “Those who massacred children, raped women and kidnapped children do not deserve any mercy.”
Qatar is mediating to seal a pact by which the Palestinian militias free the kidnapped people in exchange for the entry of medicine and other goods to Gaza, according to the Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar. Hamas has requested two lists – one of soldiers and the other of civilians – and claims to not know where all the captives are, because it only holds part of them and the situation is chaotic, according to the newspaper. After Saturday’s attack, Islamic Jihad claimed to have around thirty of them hiding in Gaza, but Israeli security sources believe that there is also a portion in the hands of people with no ties to both armed organizations.
The Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot This Monday he points to two possible pacts: a small one, for the entry of medicines in exchange for a brief suspension of bombings or a humanitarian corridor; or a broader one, which would consist of exchanging children, women and elderly people kidnapped in Gaza for the release of Palestinian women and elderly people. Israel, which in the past paid high prices to recover hostages or their bodies, publicly insists that, on this occasion, it will not negotiate under any circumstances because its only objective is to root out both the government and military structures of Hamas, by command of Gaza since 2007.
Although the launch of rockets against Israel from Gaza has been significantly reduced in recent days and is focused on the nearest towns, the armed wing of Hamas, the Ezedin Al Qasam Brigades, claimed responsibility for the launch this Monday, “in response to the bombings against civilians”, of a “barrage of projectiles” against the two main cities, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and the main airport, Ben Gurion, which has not been hit. In Jerusalem, the sound of the warning siren has forced the session of the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) to stop and Netanyahu to be taken to a safe place.
This Monday, the Israeli army released two pieces of information about the attack on Saturday the 7th, the deadliest day in its 75-year history. Of the around 1,400 dead (mainly civilians killed in their localities, vehicles or at a party rave), 291 were military. And those kidnapped amount to 199, above initial calculations, indicated its spokesman Daniel Hagari.
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