Calling this “the worst of times,” Martin Griffiths, the U.N. humanitarian chief said the United Nations is in “deep discussions” with the Israelis, Egyptians and others about getting aid through the Rafah crossing, “hugely helped” by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken who has been traveling in the region.
The Associated Press has the story:
UN humanitarian chief pushes for aid to be allowed into Gaza
Newslooks- UNITED NATIONS (AP)
Calling this “the worst of times,” the U.N. humanitarian chief said the United Nations is in “deep discussions” with the Israelis, Egyptians and others about getting aid through the Rafah crossing, “hugely helped” by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken who has been traveling in the region.
Martin Griffiths, who is heading to Cairo on Tuesday “to try to help in the negotiations,” said in an interview with the U.N. Monday that he was hoping for “some good news” soon.
Griffiths said the U.N.’s “overwhelming priority” is to get access to Gaza, saying humanitarian rules of war are being violated.
“You cannot ask people to move out of harm’s way without assisting them to do it,” by providing safe places and humanitarian aid, and right now Israel has not made these provisions for Gazans moving from the north to the south, Griffiths said.
He also called for the immediate release of all hostages taken from Israel, many of them children, women, the elderly and the sick, which he said is “unacceptable” and illegal.
AIR RAID SIRENS PUNCTUATE BLINKEN’S RETURN TO ISRAEL
TEL AVIV — Air raid sirens interrupted U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s return to Israel three times on Monday, twice as he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet for discussions over Israel’s war with Hamas.
The sirens signaling incoming rocket fire followed by the loud booms of Iran Dome air defenses intercepting rockets underscored an often-daily reality for Israelis, especially in the past week.
Blinken and his team got their first taste of the warning system and Iron Dome response as they drove from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, minutes after sirens sounded in both cities causing motorists to pull over and take cover.
Blinken’s motorcade did not slow or alter its route but sped quickly to the Israeli Ministry of Defense as motorists on the shoulders of the road returned to their vehicles.
Later, Blinken and his aides were meeting Netanyahu and his war cabinet at the prime minister’s office when sirens sounded again. Blinken, Netanyahu and the others took shelter in a bunker, according to State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.
Others huddled in defense ministry stairwells until the all clear was given.
ISRAEL HITS SOUTHERN GAZA WITH MORE AIR STRIKES
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli air strikes continue to lay waste to Gaza, hitting homes sheltering people seeking safer ground and wiping out 18 members of the same family.
Three families who had fled Gaza City were in a house that was struck early Monday in the southern city of Rafah. The attack killed a dozen people and left nine buried in the rubble, according to surviving family members.
A vast crater marked where the building had stood.
In the Nuseirat refugee camp in the middle of the besieged Gaza Strip, the bodies of 18 members of the Ghabayen family were loaded onto a truck.
“This is an entire family,” said Mustafa Ghabayen, a relative. “Eighteen martyrs and three are still under the rubble.”
