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12-truck UAE aid convoy enters Gaza

The convoy consists of 12 trucks carrying over 264 tonnes of humanitarian aid, including food, water and dates….reports Asian Lite News

An Emirati aid convoy entered the Gaza Strip on Wednesday via the Egyptian Rafah crossing as part of “Operation Chivalrous Knight 3” to support and relieve the Palestinian people during their current circumstances.

The convoy consists of 12 trucks carrying over 264 tonnes of humanitarian aid, including food, water and dates.

This brings the total number of aid trucks entering the Strip, as part of “Operation Chivalrous Knight 3”, to 440 trucks, alleviating the severe conditions faced by the people of Gaza and providing their basic needs.

As of 1st May 2024, the Emirati aid provided to the Palestinian people through “Operation Chivalrous Knight 3” exceeded 22,436 tonnes. This aid, transported via 220 cargo planes and three cargo ships, is collected in Al Arish Port before being transported into Gaza through trucks via the Rafah crossing.

The Operation also includes implementing the “Birds of Goodness” operation, which involves aerial drops of humanitarian supplies. Until yesterday, 43 drops have been conducted, delivering a total of 3,000 tonnes of food and relief materials to inaccessible isolated areas in Gaza.

Since its establishment, the UAE field hospital in Gaza has received more than 18,970 cases, with an additional 152 cases evacuated to the UAE Floating Hospital in Al Arish Port. Additionally, 166 cases have been transferred to the UAE for treatment.

The UAE had established six desalination plants with a production capacity of 1.2 million gallons per day, benefiting the Gaza population.

Egypt, France warn against Rafah op

Egypt and France have reaffirmed their complete rejection of any ground military operation in Rafah, Gaza Strip, due to its potential humanitarian risks and its threat to regional stability as a result of the presence of more than 1.4 million displaced Palestinians in the southern Gaza Strip.

This came in a statement by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs after Sameh Shoukry, Egyptian Foreign Minister, today received French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Stéphane Séjourné, who paid a flying visit to Cairo at the end of his current tour of the region.

ALSO READ: Sheikh Abdullah meets Israel’s Lapid

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UN chief calls for probe of mass graves in Gaza

The UN secretary-general also urged Israel against invading southern Gaza’s city of Rafah…reports Asian Lite News

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has demanded an independent investigation into reports by Palestinian authorities of mass graves discovered in Gaza after bodies with hands tied or medical tubes attached to them were found in multiple sites, including two hospitals.

“It is imperative that independent international investigators with forensic expertise are allowed the immediate access to the sites of these mass graves to establish the precise circumstances under which the Palestinians lost their lives and were buried or reburied,” Guterres said on Tuesday.

The UN secretary-general also urged Israel against invading southern Gaza’s city of Rafah, the last refuge for more than 1.4 million Palestinians, after the Israeli prime minister said an offensive would go forward regardless of the outcome of truce talks with Hamas.

A military assault on Rafah would “be an unbearable escalation, killing thousands more civilians and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee,” he told reporters.

He added that while there has been “incremental progress” towards averting “an entirely preventable, human-made famine” in northern Gaza, much more is urgently needed, including for Israel to follow through on its promise to open “two crossing points between Israel and northern Gaza, so that aid can be brought into Gaza from Ashdod port and Jordan”.

He cited the lack of security for aid workers and civilians as the major obstacle to distributing aid across Gaza. “I again call on the Israeli authorities to allow and facilitate safe, rapid and unimpeded access for humanitarian aid and humanitarian workers, including UNRWA, throughout Gaza,” he said.

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini told journalists on Tuesday that aid supplies into Gaza had improved in April, but listed a series of continuing difficulties including regular crossing closures “because they [Israel] are dumping released detainees or dumping sometimes bodies taken to Israel and back to the Gaza Strip.”

Juliette Touma, a spokesperson for the UN’s refugee agency for Palestinians, said that Israel had sent 225 bodies to Gaza in three containers since December that were then transported by the UN agency to local health authorities for burial, shutting the crossing temporarily.

She did not have details of the circumstances of their deaths and said it was not UNRWA’s mandate to investigate.

Palestinian authorities have previously said that Israel has returned bodies after confirming they were not hostages. They said they were trying to identify them and figure out where they were killed.

Israel’s allegations are being examined by UN investigators although a separate review found Israel has yet to provide evidence for accusations that hundreds of UNRWA staff are members of armed groups. More than 34,000 people have been killed in Israel’s war on Gaza since October 7, according to Palestinian authorities.

ALSO READ: Blinken Visits Israel for Gaza Ceasefire Talks

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Blinken Visits Israel for Gaza Ceasefire Talks

This is the seventh visit of Blinken since the war between Hamas and Israel broke out on October 7, 2023….reports Asian Lite News

 The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, arrived in Israel where he will meet the country’s President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to push forward the Gaza ceasefire deal .

This is the seventh visit of Blinken since the war between Hamas and Israel broke out on October 7, 2023.

The Israel Prime Minister’s office in a statement on Tuesday night said that the meeting with Herzog will be held in Tel Aviv while Blinken will interact with Netanyahu at the latter’s office in Jerusalem.

The Secretary of State will also meet Israel Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi. Blinken will also meet the families of the hostages.

The top US diplomat arrived in the Middle East on Monday and had interactions with the Jordanian and Saudi officials regarding peace in the region.

Israel has agreed to the suggestion of the mediators for the release of 33 of its hostages (women, elderly, and those suffering from diseases) in the custody of Hamas in exchange for around 600 Palestinian prisoners languishing in Israeli jails. Many of these Palestinians kept in jails are accused in murder cases.

Blinken had earlier announced that he would not arrive in Israel during his present visit to the Middle East but sources in Israel Prime Minister’s office told IANS that there were some bottlenecks in the indirect mediatory talks being held at Cairo between Hamas and Israel.

The Secretary of State will be discussing with the Israeli leaders the issues leading to the blockade in mediatory talks.

Netanyahu had warned that if the mediatory talks being held at Cairo do not materialise, Israel would invade the Rafah region in the Gaza Strip.

ALSO READ: Blinken: Hamas received ‘extraordinarily generous’ truce offer

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NSA Sullivan, Qatar PM Discuss Gaza Hostage Release

The United States affirmed this dialogue in an official statement, indicating ongoing communication between Sullivan and Al Thani….reports Asian Lite News

White House National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, and Qatari Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, convened on Tuesday to explore prospects for a ceasefire in Gaza, coupled with the release of hostages.

The United States affirmed this dialogue in an official statement, indicating ongoing communication between Sullivan and Al Thani.

Meanwhile, senior Hamas leader Osama Hamaden has said that the outfit will release the remaining 134 hostages only when the permanent ceasefire is in place and Israelis completely withdraw from Gaza.

Hamadan in a statement in Beirut on Tuesday said that in the past two days the organisation had clearly presented this view before the Qatari and Egyptian mediators.

He said that Hamas had reaffirmed its position that a permanent ceasefire was possible only after a full pull out of the IDF from Gaza Strip and return of displaced Palestinian families to their homes.

The tough position taken by Hamas has almost derailed the US President Joe Biden’s optimism that a temporary six week ceasefire would be reached before March 10 – the commencement of the Holy month of Ramadan.

However, the US state secretary Antony Blinken is in continuous discussions with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Al -Thani and the Egyptian mediator Major General Abbas Kalam. The US leader is also in communication with Israeli minister, Benny Gantz who is on a visit to the US.

Highly placed sources in the Israel defence ministry told IANS that if the Hamas backs out of truce talks then Israel will have to go for an all-out attack to release and rescue its hostages. It may be noted that Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has been restrained from an all-out ground invasion in Rafah border after an appeal from mediators, including the US ,Qatar and Egypt.

US Airdrops More Aid into Gaza

Amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, the US for the second time, airdropped humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, The New York Times reported.

US Air Force cargo planes, in a joint operation with the Jordanian Air Force dropped 36,800 ready-to-eat meals “to provide essential relief to civilians affected by the ongoing conflict,” according to US Central Command statement.

In a statement, US Central Command said that army troops trained in aerial delivery were part of the airdrop. The US forces further said that they were planning more such missions. However, the Pentagon said on Tuesday that the US did not intend to send its troops into Gaza to strengthen the aid distribution process.

While addressing a news conference, Pentagon spokesperson Major General Patrick Ryder said, “At this time, there are no plans to put U.S. forces on the ground in Gaza,” The New York Times reported.

The US’ operation on Tuesday comes days after the first round of airdrops on Saturday. US airdropped the first round of humanitarian aid into Gaza, two days after more than 100 Palestinians were killed as Israeli forces opened fire around a convoy of aid trucks in northern Gaza. Doctors at Gaza hospitals said the majority of casualties were from gunfire.

The Israeli military said the majority of the victims were trampled as they attempted to take control of the cargo. Israeli officials, however, admitted that troops had fired on some people who they said had threatened them, according to The New York Times report.

Following the convoy casualties in Gaza, US President Joe Biden said the US would find new ways to provide aid to Palestinians in desperate need due to Israel’s counter-offensive against Hamas, which began after the terrorist group’s attack on October 7.

On Sunday, US Vice President Kamala Harris called for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza, which she stressed must last for at least the next six weeks. Terming the conditions in Gaza as “inhumane,” Harris said that people in the region were “starving.”

Harris, who was in Alabama’s Selma, to commemorate the 59th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, said, “The threat of Hamas poses to the people of Israel must be eliminated. And given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire for at least the next six weeks, which is what is currently on the table.”

The US Vice President noted that the ceasefire will allow the release of hostages and aid will enter Gaza. She stressed that Hamas needs to agree to that deal. (ANI)

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Egyptian Wall Construction Near Gaza Border Raises Tensions

The images show cranes, trucks and what appear to be precast concrete barriers being set up along the road….reports Asian Lite News

 Egypt is building a wall and is levelling land near its border with the Gaza Strip ahead of a planned Israeli offensive targeting Rafah city, satellite images showed on Thursday as quoted by media reports.

Egypt hasn’t publicly acknowledged the construction but has warned Israel not to forcibly expel the Palestinians now displaced in Rafah into Egypt, The Times of Israel reported.

But the images from the Egyptian side of the border in the Sinai Peninsula suggest Cairo is preparing for just that scenario, something that could threaten its 1979 peace deal with Israel.

Cairo officials did not respond to requests for comment on Friday from media reports.

The satellite images, taken Thursday by Maxar Technologies, show construction ongoing on the wall, which sits along the Sheikh Zuweid-Rafah Road nearly 3.5 km (2 miles) west of the border with Gaza.

The images show cranes, trucks and what appear to be precast concrete barriers being set up along the road.

ALSO READ: Egypt Opens Rafah for Gaza Aid