Live ticker on the Israel War: Military fires officers after killing seven helpers 2024-04-05 12:05:34

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken continues to put pressure on Israel and demands results for more humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip. Among other things, the USA would check how many trucks actually arrive permanently in the crisis region, he said on Friday in Brussels. He stressed that it is not only a matter of how many trucks reach the Gaza Strip, but also that aid is distributed throughout the coastal area, including the north, which is particularly important. Israel must deliver results.

After a clear warning from the US ally, Israel decided on Friday morning to take “immediate steps” to increase humanitarian aid for the civilian population in the Gaza Strip. The War Cabinet decided to temporarily open the port of Ashdod and the Erez border crossing for aid deliveries, the Israeli newspapers Haaretz and Times of Israel reported, citing a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office. According to the White House, US President Joe Biden called on Netanyahu in a phone call on Thursday to take a series of “specific, concrete and measurable steps” to reduce the suffering of the people of Gaza and increase the protection of aid workers.

Blinken emphasized that it is also critical that an independent, thorough and public investigation be conducted into the deaths of the World Central Kitchen aid workers. At the beginning of the week, seven aid organization employees were killed in an Israeli military airstrike in the Gaza Strip. Blinken said the team did heroic work under the most difficult circumstances to support people in desperate need of help. In addition, it is repeatedly observed that a terrible number of innocent children, women and men are killed in the course of military operations.