Gaza gets no mention in NATO chief’s final speech
Israel’s war in Gaza went without mention in NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg’s final speech at the NATO summit in Washington, despite some leaders warning that silence over the situation in Gaza could undermine the alliance’s commitment to human rights.
Earlier in the day, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez warned that the perception of a “double standard” towards Ukraine and Gaza could weaken efforts to rally non-European nations to the defence of a “rules-based” international order.
US President Joe Biden also failed to mention the conflict and instead rekindled a debate over his candidacy for the November presidential election when he accidentally referred to his Ukrainian counterpart as Russia’s “President Putin” as he introduced Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
WHO says only five trucks allowed to enter Gaza last week
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said only five of the UN agency’s trucks carrying medical supplies were allowed into Gaza last week, while more than 34 were waiting in El Arish, the closest Egyptian city to the Rafah border crossing, and 40 in Ismailia, in northeastern Egypt.
The Israeli military earlier claimed that it had allowed 261 trucks carrying humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. Yet, the UN and other international organisations continue to report on Israeli restrictions on aid delivery to the besieged enclave, amid the spread of famine after more than nine months of war.
Only five @WHO trucks of medical supplies were allowed into #Gaza last week.
More than 34 of our trucks are waiting at the Al Arish crossing, and 850 pallets of medical supplies are awaiting collection.
A further 40 trucks are waiting at Ismailiya in Egypt.
WHO calls for the… pic.twitter.com/95MReUn1RI
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) July 11, 2024
Head of US aid agency says Israel vows to improve safety for humanitarian workers
Samantha Power, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) administrator, said she has received Israeli pledges to allow aid workers to move more quickly and safely throughout the Gaza Strip.
In an interview with The Associated Press news agency, Power said that Israel has also taken new steps to increase the flow of aid through its port of Ashdod, just north of Gaza. The move could give donors a new option for delivering aid as the US shutters its troubled maritime pier off Gaza’s coast.
“We have not seen the kind of humanitarian system to this point that has allowed humanitarians to move efficiently and safely to the degree that we need,” Power said. “This week and through this visit, we have secured an agreement.”
“My whole career has been working in and around conflict areas,” said Power. “I have never seen a more difficult conflict environment for humanitarians to work in.”
The UN says that since May, the amount of aid reaching it to distribute in Gaza has fallen to some of the lowest levels in the war. Israeli forces are continuing to seal shut vital border crossings in Gaza as famine looms. Tonnes of supplies have piled up on the Gaza side of Israeli-controlled border crossings because the UN says it is unable to collect them for distribution.
Both the US and Israel have been caught lying throughout the conflict, plus this was already pledged after the WCK murders at the start of April, 3 months ago.
It's been said over and over and over, a ceasefire is needed to get the flow of aid going. Every time aid agencies get anything together Israel orders new evacuations shutting everything down again. Next to bombing aid warehouses, aid convoys, distribution points and those protecting aid convoys.
