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‘The situation in Gaza remains catastrophic’: European Council president
Antonio Costa has said he had a “good and substantial call” with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and renewed calls for ending the Israeli siege on Gaza.
“The situation in Gaza remains catastrophic. We urge Israel to fully lift its blockade on humanitarian aid and to stop its military operations,” Costa wrote in a social media post.
“I commend Egypt and Qatar’s tireless efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement based on the US proposal. An immediate return to the ceasefire is essential, leading to the release of all hostages and a permanent end to hostilities.”
Well that's that then, he made a phone call, all better now. Fucking useless.
The private sector aid mechanism in Gaza is ‘clearly not working’
“If you look at the chaos and anarchy on the ground, you know there has to be a better, more efficient way of getting food to people who are clearly starving,” Colin Clarke, the director of research for the Soufan Group, a consultancy firm, tells Al Jazeera.
“This is all part and parcel of the Israeli counterinsurgency strategy to push people into the south, but … the optics of this to the world are becoming quite clear,” he explained.
Clarke stated that, according to some assessments, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation may not be able to continue its operations after the Boston Consulting Group terminated its contract with them.
“There’s the conventional wisdom says that the private sector is inherently more efficient when it comes to certain logistics, but this is a very specialised aid mechanism, delivery of food to starving people in a conflict zone, that should be left to the people and organisations that do this for a living, the neutral and impartial organisations like the United Nations” he said.
Seven killed in Israeli attack on tent camp
Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting that seven Palestinians have been killed and others injured in an Israeli strike on a tent sheltering displaced people at the Port of Gaza.
