2023-10-21 18:54:08
It has not been possible to reach a minimum agreement on the current conflict in the Middle East. The discrepancies in positions regarding the confrontation between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas prevented the Peace Summit sponsored by Egypt, a traditional mediator between both parties, from ending with a joint declaration. The participants agreed on the need to reactivate a political solution that involves the coexistence of two states in line with UN resolutions, protecting the civilian population and sending humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip on a continuous basis.
The first 20 trucks with humanitarian aid enter Gaza from the Egyptian Rafah crossing
The first 20 trucks began crossing the Rafah crossing just as dozens of international leaders were meeting in Egypt’s new administrative capital – a city of pharaonic dimensions and buildings located about 45 kilometers from Cairo – but that aid is manifestly insufficient. in the face of the catastrophe suffered by the Palestinian population.
Beyond these meeting points, a “consensus” could not be reached, as the Egyptian president, Abdelfattah Al Sisi, intended, due to the gaps between the countries when it came to condemning the response of the far-right Benjamin Netanyahu to the Hamas attack of the past. day 7, period in which some 4,400 Gazans have died in the retaliatory bombing campaign.
The leaders of the Arab world condemned the situation experienced by Palestinians following the siege of Gaza and the bombings of homes and civilian infrastructure. The harshest was King Abadalah II of Jordan who, in a speech in English, recalled that “all lives matter”: “Everywhere bomb and starve the civilian population […] “I would be condemned.”
“We reject the killing of civilians on both sides and call for the release of hostages,” said the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, who denounced, however, that the forces of “the occupation continue to terrorize Palestinians and civilians, and attacking holy places” – like an Orthodox church in Gaza hit by a bombing this week. “We will never leave, we will never leave our lands. We will resist until the end,” he added after ensuring that an attempt is being made to “evict” the Palestinians from their homes.
A good part of the 34 countries present – Israel was not there and countries like the United States sent very low profiles – accused Netanyahu of violating international legality with his response to Hamas. “The attack on civilians in Israel and the siege of Gaza, the cruel use of bombs and the destruction of infrastructure are violations of humanitarian law,” warned South African President Ciryl Ramaphosa.
This is where the main clash occurs. In the West there are very few voices that condemn the actions of Netanyahu’s far-right government. After several days of cacophony, the EU leaders, who set their position on the conflict last Sunday, avoided qualifying Israel’s attitude and limited themselves to appealing to its right to self-defense within the framework of international law. The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, has gone a step further by pointing out that “a complete siege violates international law.” He then celebrated the “progress” of the first humanitarian aid trucks in the Gaza Strip. The one who most clearly in the EU has pointed out Israel has been the high representative, Josep Borrell.
Reproaches for the “hesitations” of the West
The West’s reaction to the conflict between Israel and Hamas clashes with the position it has had regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine. And the Jordanian king reproached the representatives of European countries and also the United States – which was represented by the special envoy for the humanitarian crisis in the Middle East –, reminding them that they have condemned the attacks on the civilian population “in another conflict, but not in Gaza”, in a clear allusion to Ukraine.
“Israel decided to lay siege to Gaza, and international silence continues,” he rebuked. “The ongoing war has also revealed a deficiency in the international community’s values in addressing crises. While we see that in one place they rush and compete to promptly condemn the slaughter of innocents, in another place we find incomprehensible hesitations when it comes to denouncing the same act. We even see attempts to justify this massacre, as if the life of the Palestinian human being was less important than that of other people,” stated in a statement the Presidency of Egypt, which was the host and wanted to defend the cause once again. Palestine, as it has been doing since the outbreak of violence, although it did not usually do so in such a forceful way before.
Some European sources admit concern about the repercussions that these differences may have on other countries that the EU has tried to attract, with great diplomatic efforts, towards condemning the aggression of Vladimir Putin of Ukraine in forums such as the General Assembly of the UN, as published in the newspaper Financial Times. But what they maintain is that the war between Israel and Hamas was triggered by the attack by Palestinian militiamen against the Jewish populations and communities bordering Gaza.
That was the message of the German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, and that to a certain extent Ursula von der Leyen maintained until she was corrected by the 27. “Everyone’s suffering has a name: it was Hamas, which brought tremendous terror on Israel and committed heinous crimes. “Israel, like every country in the world, has the right to defend itself and protect its people under international law,” said Baerbock, who previously assured that “all victims matter the same.”
The EU has also not supported the request for a ceasefire that emerged from the Arab countries and that, with nuances, has been demanded by the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, who has opted for a humanitarian cessation of hostilities. Pedro Sánchez has joined this request, going one step further than the European partners. That possibility seems impossible for now given the veto that the US imposed on a UN Security Council resolution that called for “humanitarian pauses” in Gaza and condemned the attacks on civilians.
The summit in Egypt also took place with the threat of an imminent military invasion of Gaza. And the concern is that it will provoke a conflict on Israel’s northern border, with the Shiite group Hezbollah, in which Iran, archenemy of the Jewish State, could participate. Hence the call to avoid an escalation at the regional level that is heard in the capitals. But the Government of Tehran, one of the main actors, has not attended this Saturday’s meeting either.
Negotiate humanitarian aid to alleviate the “catastrophe”
The UN’s efforts, however, are now focused on negotiating with the parties involved to alleviate a situation that, in the words of the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, “has reached catastrophic levels.” Griffiths said in a statement that the delivery of the first 20 trucks was possible after “days of deep and intense negotiations with all relevant parties”, specifically Egypt, the United States and Israel, as well as the United Nations.
However, the agreement reached has allowed the entry of a very small amount of limited supplies: first of all, doctors, as well as food, blankets and mattresses, and only 44,000 liters of water, one of the most needed basic goods right now. in the Strip – where the more than two million inhabitants survive with 3 liters of water per person per day, according to UN data.
Fuel has also not been able to be brought into Gaza, due to the restrictions that Israel has imposed on humanitarian assistance, which, under no circumstances, does it want to end up in the hands of Hamas or breathe oxygen into its Government in the Strip. However, the fuel shortage mainly affects the health system, as it is necessary for the hospitals’ electrical generators, some of which are already out of service.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has sent medicines and other essential medical supplies this Saturday, but has assured that “they will barely be able to begin to address the growing health needs as hostilities continue to escalate.” More than 14,000 people have been injured in the two weeks of the offensive on the Strip, according to the latest data from the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
A 20-truck convoy of the Egyptian Red Crescent is moving today into Gaza.
The people of Gaza need a commitment for much more – a continuous delivery of aid at the scale that is needed.
We are working nonstop with all relevant parties to make it happen.
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) October 21, 2023
The leadership of the UN and all its agencies have assured that much more aid is necessary to alleviate the suffering of Gazan civilians. Guterres, who personally went to the Rafah crossing in northeastern Egypt on Friday, said that “the people of Gaza need a much greater commitment: the continued delivery of aid based on what they need.” And he has assured that the United Nations is working “with all the relevant parties to make that happen”, but at the moment there are no indicators of when the border crossing could reopen, which has been closed again after the unloading in Gaza and the return to Egypt of the 20 trucks.
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