WAs mediators in the Gaza war continue to push for a ceasefire just before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, preparations are underway to deliver aid by sea to the bombed-out Gaza Strip. A ship from the Spanish aid organization Open Arms is scheduled to initially transport around 200 tons of food such as rice and flour from Cyprus at the start of a maritime corridor announced by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and will arrive in the next few days, as the British broadcaster BBC reported. Where exactly it would land and how the aid would then get to the people was initially unclear.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden again called for a ceasefire. “I want to see a ceasefire, starting with a major prisoner exchange. For a period of six weeks,” Biden told the US broadcaster MSNBC on Saturday evening (local time).
Biden: Don't allow another 30,000 deaths in Gaza
Despite ongoing ceasefire negotiations, Israel is pressing ahead with preparations for a ground offensive in Rafah in southern Gaza to destroy the remaining Hamas battalions and free suspected hostages there. In the city that borders Egypt, 1.5 million desperate Palestinians are currently seeking protection in a confined space from the fighting in other areas of the sealed-off coastal area. It should not be allowed that another 30,000 Palestinians die as a result of the action against Hamas, Biden warned in the interview when asked whether a ground offensive in Rafah represented a red line for him.
According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, more than 30,000 people have been killed in Gaza so far. According to media reports, tens of thousands of people called for an immediate ceasefire at pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Paris and London on Saturday.
Israel's secret service: Hamas wants to set fire to region in Ramadan
However, according to the Israeli foreign intelligence service Mossad, Hamas is currently not interested in a ceasefire. Rather, the Islamist organization is seeking to “set the (Middle East) region on fire in Ramadan,” Mossad chief David Barnea said in a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office on Saturday evening. At the same time, Israel remains in contact with the mediators USA, Qatar and Egypt and is cooperating with them, it said. “We have not declared that the negotiations have stopped,” Husam Badran, a member of the Islamist organization’s political bureau, told the US newspaper “Wall Street Journal” on Saturday.
According to the newspaper, the talks will continue on Sunday in Cairo. The Arab negotiators planned to push for an initially shorter ceasefire of two days at the start of Ramadan. The month of fasting, a particularly holy time for Muslims, is expected to begin on Sunday evening.
USA prepares to build temporary port facility off Gaza
Meanwhile, the US military has begun transporting equipment to the region for the construction of a temporary shipping dock off the coast of Gaza. The responsible regional command Centcom announced this on Saturday evening (local time) on the X platform, formerly Twitter. On Thursday, the USA announced the plan planned with international partners to bring food, water and medicine to the war zone. It will take around 60 days until the pier is operational. The Israeli army agreed to coordinate the construction together with the US armed forces. Humanitarian aid could then reach Gaza by sea after appropriate inspection by Israel, said military spokesman Daniel Hagari on Saturday evening.
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