The office of Occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced, on Wednesday, October 18, 2023, that it would allow restricted entry of humanitarian materials through Egypt into Gaza, at a time when America used its veto in the UN Security Council against a resolution calling for a humanitarian truce.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced that the death toll had risen to about 3,478 martyrs and more than 13,000 injured in the Gaza Strip since October 7.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu’s office said in a written statement: “At the request of President Biden, Israel will not thwart the provision of humanitarian aid from Egypt, as long as this aid contains food, water and medicine for the civilian population located in the southern Gaza Strip, or who are moving there, and so on.” As long as these supplies do not reach Hamas’ hands.”

Netanyahu's office indicated that "Israel will not allow any humanitarian aid to be provided through its territory to the Gaza Strip, unless our abductees are returned," and added: "Israel is demanding that Red Cross visits be arranged for our abductees, and it is working to mobilize broad international support for this demand."

Netanyahu's office announced that he had initiated these steps "in light of the widespread and vital American support for the Israeli war efforts, and based on President Biden's request to provide basic humanitarian aid."

Security Council

In this context, the United States used its veto in the UN Security Council against a resolution calling for a humanitarian truce in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) to allow aid to enter the Gaza Strip.

The vote was postponed twice over the past two days on the text drafted by Brazil, in light of the United States’ attempt to mediate the entry of aid into Gaza. 12 members voted in favor of the draft resolution today, while Russia and Britain abstained from voting.

Meanwhile, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, called for an immediate ceasefire on humanitarian grounds to allow the release of the hostages and the arrival of aid into Gaza.

The draft resolution also urges Israel, without naming it, to cancel its order for civilians and UN staff in Gaza to move to the southern Palestinian enclave, and denounces “the terrorist attacks launched by Hamas.”

Last week, Israel ordered about 1.1 million people in Gaza, or about half the population, to move south, as it prepares for a ground attack in response to the worst Hamas attack on civilians in Israel’s history, which dates back 75 years.

Israel imposed a comprehensive siege on the Gaza Strip and is targeting it with intense bombing. It vowed to eliminate Hamas after the armed Islamist group killed 1,400 people and took hostages in an attack on Israel on October 7.

The draft United Nations resolution condemned all acts of violence and hostilities against civilians, and all acts of terrorism, and called for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

At dawn on October 7, Hamas and other Palestinian factions in Gaza launched Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood,” in response to “the continuing attacks by Israeli forces and settlers against the Palestinian people, their property, and their sanctities, especially Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.”

During the operation, Hamas and gunmen from other Palestinian factions took “dozens of Israelis, including soldiers and officers,” during a large-scale infiltration of settlements around the Gaza Strip, according to what the movement announced at the time.

Source: arbipost