2024-03-26 00:48:48
The British Ministry of Defense said in a statement that the British Royal Air Force airdropped more than ten tons of food supplies into the Gaza Strip for the first time on Monday.
The ministry added, “The aid, which consists of water, rice, cooking oil, flour, canned food, and baby formula, will support the residents of Gaza.”
An international call for aid
On Monday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for the provision of huge supplies of aid to Gaza to combat famine, and said that international consensus is increasing on informing Israel of the need for a ceasefire in the war with Hamas.
Guterres said during a visit to Jordan that he sees a growing consensus to inform Israel that any ground invasion of Rafah, located in the far south of the Gaza Strip on the Egyptian border, might mean a humanitarian catastrophe.
Rafah has become the last refuge for half of Gaza’s displaced population, whose number has increased due to displaced people fleeing fighting in other parts of the Strip following more than five months of war.
Guterres said that Israel must remove all obstacles to the arrival of aid to Gaza and allow convoys of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) to enter the northern Gaza Strip, where famine looms on the horizon.
He added, “It is absolutely necessary to provide huge supplies of humanitarian aid now. This means opening more entry points, and it means intensifying the efforts of all entities without obstacles or restrictions from the Israeli side.”
The most senior official in the international organization said, during a tour of one of the centers in Al-Wahdat camp in Jordan, where UNRWA provides health and educational services, that the agency represents a lifeline vibrant with hope and dignity for millions of refugees throughout the region.
He added, “The decision not to allow UNRWA convoys to enter northern Gaza, where there is a tragic situation related to famine, is completely unacceptable, and those who made this decision must bear responsibility for its consequences before history.”
Israel stopped all imports of food, medicine, energy and fuel into Gaza at the beginning of the war. Although they later allowed aid deliveries, aid organizations say security checks and the difficulty of moving through the war zone greatly hampered their operations.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, who is accompanying Guterres, appealed to members of the United Nations Security Council to vote Monday in favor of a resolution calling for a ceasefire and pressuring Israel to allow unimpeded entry of aid, saying that the resolution would send “a message that what is happening is unacceptable and that what is happening “It must stop.”
Al-Safadi added, “Nothing justifies continuing to kill innocent people… and committing this amount of massacres. And nothing justifies depriving men, women, and children of their right to food and medicine.”
Jordan hosts 2.4 million Palestinian refugees, the largest number of these refugees among Israel’s neighbors. Many Jordanian citizens are of Palestinian origin.
UNRWA has been facing a crisis since Israel accused 12 of its employees of involvement in a Hamas attack on October 7.
These allegations prompted UNRWA’s largest donor, the United States, and some other countries to halt funding, raising doubts regarding the agency’s future. But some countries later resumed funding.
Israel denies preventing the delivery of aid to Gaza, and says that its delivery once it enters the Strip is the responsibility of the United Nations and humanitarian agencies. Hamas was also accused of stealing aid, which the Palestinian movement denies.
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