After the deadly disaster involving an aid convoy, the US wants to provide the civilian population in the embattled Gaza Strip with aid supplies from the air. US President Joe Biden announced at the White House on Friday (local time) that they would join forces with Jordan and others in the coming days and airlift more food and aid supplies. But given the large number of people in need in the closed coastal area, the effect is likely to disappear quickly, according to UN organizations.
Meanwhile, Israel’s indirect negotiations with Hamas over a temporary ceasefire and the release of hostages held by the Islamists are facing new difficulties, according to media reports. Israel does not want to participate in a new round of talks between Egypt, Qatar and the US as long as Hamas does not provide a list of the hostages still alive, the news portal ‘Axios’ reported on Friday evening.
Biden emphasized that they would push for Israel to provide more trucks and more routes “so that more and more people can get the help they need.” Because the aid that currently reaches the coastal area is not enough. The US government has been denouncing the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza for weeks. The now announced airdrop of aid is a sign that Biden cannot convince Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to do more for the suffering Palestinians, the Politico portal wrote.
John Kirby, communications director for the White House National Security Council, announced that food would be dropped first. He didn’t mention a day for it. Jordan has been cutting aid deliveries since November, as has Egypt for a few days. The flights are coordinated with Israel. The US is also considering delivering aid from the sea, as Kirby explained.
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Meanwhile, the Israeli army not only continues the fight against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, but has also said it has again attacked military installations of the Shiite militia Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. The military announced Friday evening that warplanes and artillery had attacked two Iranian-backed militia facilities in the Ramyah area. “A number of terrorists” left one of the military installations, after which they were attacked and killed. The information could not be independently verified. According to a report from Israeli news site Ynet, Hezbollah has once again claimed responsibility for firing rockets into Israeli territory again.
Since the start of the Gaza war following the October 7 massacre by Hamas and other extremist groups in Israel, there have been repeated clashes between the Israeli army and the Hezbollah militia in the Israeli-Lebanese border area. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant announced a few days ago that he would continue to increase military pressure on the militia in response to their daily attacks on Israel’s northern border until Hezbollah had completely withdrawn from the border with Israel. Hezbollah is an ally of Hamas in Gaza but is considered significantly more powerful.
Meanwhile, the White House made clear it would continue working toward an agreement on a ceasefire in the Gaza war. But the prospects for this remain uncertain. The Wall Street Journal, citing Egyptian sources, reported that Hamas had frozen communications with mediators on Thursday over the deaths of more than 100 Palestinians as aid arrived in northern Gaza. According to Axios, Israel does not want to participate in a new round of talks for the time being, because Hamas has not yet provided an answer to the mediators’ proposed number of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, which Israel would offer in return. the release of a certain number of hostages would release freedom. Another round of negotiations should take place in Cairo next week.
According to media reports, under the proposal from mediators Egypt, Qatar and the US, a six-week ceasefire should come into effect, if possible, before the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which starts around March 10. During this time, 40 Israeli hostages would be exchanged for approximately 400 Palestinian prisoners. Hamas continues to hold 134 hostages it brought to the Gaza Strip along with other extremist groups during an attack on southern Israel on October 7. According to Israeli estimates, about a hundred of them are still alive.
Meanwhile, Nicaragua has accused Germany before the UN’s highest court of complicity in the Israeli ‘genocide’ in the Gaza Strip. The authoritarian country justified its move with Germany’s political, financial and military support for Israel and with the cancellation of funding for the Palestinian aid organization UNRWA, as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague announced on Friday. Nicaragua accuses Germany of facilitating “the commission of genocide” and not fulfilling its obligation to do everything to prevent it.
In late December, South Africa, like Nicaragua, a strong defender of Palestinian rights, sued Israel in the International Court of Justice for violations of the Genocide Convention allegedly committed during the war in Gaza. The UN court ruled in an interim judgment that Israel must take protective measures to prevent genocide. (sda/dpa)
Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
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