2024-01-19 19:33:17
Article information
- Author, Salma Khattab
- Role, BBC News Arabic – Cairo
-
2 hours ago
On January 16, the State of Qatar announced that an agreement had been reached between Israel and Hamas, with Qatari mediation and French cooperation, under which a shipment of medicines and aid would enter the Gaza Strip, in exchange for delivering medicines to the Israeli hostages held by Hamas inside the Strip.
Last Wednesday, Qatar announced the arrival of two planes carrying 61 tons of aid to Al-Arish Airport, in preparation for its entry into the Gaza Strip.
Many details regarding this agreement are still unclear, and information in this regard is conflicting. What do we know regarding the details of this agreement so far?
Details announced
According to what was announced by the State of Qatar and the Israeli government, the agreement includes sending two Qatari planes loaded with medicines, food aid, and medicines for the Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
The Israeli government says the medicines to be delivered to the hostages were purchased in France, according to a list compiled by Israel of the hostages’ needs.
According to an Israeli government statement, representatives of the State of Qatar will undertake the task of delivering the medicines to their “final destination” inside the Gaza Strip.
Did the medicines reach the hostages?
Last Wednesday, Qatar announced that the two planes had already arrived at Al-Arish Airport, and the Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman, Majed Al-Ansari, said in media statements on Thursday evening that medicines and aid had entered the Gaza Strip, explaining that regarding 11 tons of aid were transported through the Egyptian Red Crescent and received by the Ministry of Health in Gaza strip.
Al-Ansari said, “We cannot confirm that the medicines reached the hostages due to the difficulty of communications in the Gaza Strip, but most likely they were delivered,” and stated, “We cannot confirm that.”
On the other hand, the spokesman for the Ministry of Health, Ashraf Al-Qudra, in Gaza refused to comment on the matter, and said that he did not have any information regarding it.
Aid to the north?
Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, the Israeli army declared the area north of the Gaza Strip a military zone, and demanded that all residents there leave their homes and head to the south. Since then, residents of the northern regions have complained of a sharp deterioration in humanitarian conditions, and a shortage of medicines and food.
The Qatari statement stated that the aid would reach the “most needy” areas in the Gaza Strip without specifying specific areas, but a member of the Hamas political bureau said in a tweet on the “X” platform that “the medicine will reach the northern Gaza Strip despite the Israeli ban.”
The spokesman for the Palestinian Red Crescent Ambulance Authority, Ahmed Jibril, told the BBC, “Medications are supposed to be delivered to the northern areas of the Gaza Strip as well, according to what was announced, but we are awaiting implementation.”
A few days ago, the United Nations urged the delivery of more aid to the areas north of the Gaza Strip, calling on Israel to facilitate this.
Crisis over inspection
The inspection of aid trucks sparked a crisis over their entry into the Gaza Strip, as a member of the Hamas political bureau, Musa Abu Marzouk, said that the movement refused to have Israel inspect the aid trucks sent into the Gaza Strip within the framework of the agreement. On the other hand, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, confirmed, Trucks are subject to Israeli inspection.
Netanyahu said in a press conference that he “ordered the trucks to be inspected whether Hamas accepts or rejects.”
Abu Marzouk wrote in a tweet on his account on the “X” website, “Hamas demanded a thousand medicine boxes for the residents of Gaza for every medicine box that reaches the hostages,” as well as providing medicines through a country that the movement trusts, and preventing the inspection of medicine trucks by the Israeli army.
Abu Marzouk also said that the movement refused to have France provide medicines due to its “lack of confidence in the French government and its positions in support of Israel.”
Pressure in Israel
This deal came amid increasing pressure exerted by the families of the hostages inside Israel, as the families of the hostages gathered a few days ago on the Gaza border and delivered a message via loudspeakers to their children, saying that the children were suffering from a lack of water, food and medicine.
On Thursday, the families of the detainees closed a main road in Tel Aviv, demanding that the Israeli government reach an agreement to return their detained children.
What is the role of the Red Cross?
Contrary to the protocol followed in such agreements, the Red Cross will not deliver medicine shipments this time, and representatives of Qatar will take charge, according to what was announced.
The International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed to the BBC that it welcomed the agreement, which allows medicines to reach the hostages, and the entry of more medicines and aid into the Gaza Strip.
She added that the International Committee of the Red Cross urges all actors to ensure that medicines are delivered to those who need them, and that the Committee is ready to continue to play its role as a neutral mediator.
Hamas has been holding 136 hostages since last October 7, when its fighters launched an attack on the settlements surrounding the Gaza Strip, killing regarding 1,200 Israelis and taking 250 hostage who were held inside the Strip.
Israel responded by declaring war on the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, and began launching continuous strikes for more than three months, resulting in the killing of more than 24,000 Palestinians, wounding tens of thousands, and displacing regarding 90% of the Strip’s population from their homes due to military operations.
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