The Israeli Government confirmed yesterday that it will allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza from Egypt, although it warned that if the supply ends up in the hands of Hamas, it will annul the permit. “Israel will not hinder supplies from Egypt as long as they are food, water and medicine for the civilian population in the southern Gaza Strip,” the Israeli Executive said in a statement.
However, "it will not allow humanitarian aid from its territory to Gaza" until the two hundred kidnapped hostages are released.
The decision was announced hours earlier by the president of the United States, Joe Biden. “We are working in close cooperation with the Government of Egypt, the United Nations and its agencies and other partners in the region to get the trucks across the border as soon as possible,” he said. Additionally, the US Administration will give 100 million dollars to support the displaced. “Civilians are not to blame and should not suffer for the horrific terrorism committed by Hamas,” he said.
Biden also stated that the Pentagon had shown him evidence suggesting that the Israeli military is not responsible for the massacre at Al Ahli hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday night, which left hundreds of civilians dead and sparked an explosion. of protests in the Middle East.
As soon as he landed in Tel Aviv, Biden told Beniamin Netanyahu: “According to what I have seen, it seems as if the other team did it,” he said when the controversy over who was responsible for the massacre was still hot. Hamas blames the Israeli army, accusing the massacre of a failed rocket fired by Islamic Jihad.
Biden returned to Washington last night without having achieved what he wanted most when he agreed to go to Israel: reduce violence in Gaza, guarantee the safety of civilians and offer his Arab allies enough space to try to free the hostages held by Hamas. . This was the plan, but almost everything went wrong. The massacre the day before destroyed his diplomatic mediation.
Upon arrival, Biden listened to Netanyahu describe the atrocities that Islamist guerrillas committed on October 7 and reiterate that “Hamas is worse than the Islamic State.” Biden agreed, replying: “The Islamic State seemed more rational than Hamas.”
Biden's trip was eventful in terms of timing. On Tuesday night, shortly before he took off from Andrews base, a rocket fell on the crowd gathered in the parking lot of Al Ahli hospital, leaving hundreds dead. As Biden flew to Israel, the streets of Beirut, Amman, Baghdad, Ramallah and Tehran were filled with people accusing Israel of the massacre. It was not until yesterday morning that the Hebrew State provided evidence that appears to show that the explosion was caused by an Islamic Jihad rocket that missed its course. Arab leaders, however, had already accused the Jewish state and did not change their minds.
After Tel Aviv, the president was scheduled to meet with King Abdullah II in Amman; the Egyptian president, Marshal Abdul Fatah al Sisi; and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. However, the three canceled the meeting. They did not want to be photographed with him and be accused by the street of being accomplices of the United States, Israel's great friend.
It was not only a humiliation for the White House, but also the announced failure of a visit that had not even begun. Biden could no longer break the diplomatic blockade because without going to Amman he would not be able to distance himself from Israel, and without this equidistance – although it was more a perception than a reality – he would not be able to offer anything to the Arab leaders.
Arab countries demand safe zones for Gazans, and Biden has said several times that Israel must fulfill its obligation to respect civilians. However, bombs have fallen on schools, hospitals, mosques and residential buildings. Military operations from the air, guided remotely, cause great harm to the civilian population. There are already more than 3,478 dead and more than 10,000 injured, almost all of them civilians.
Biden believed that if he could improve living conditions in Gaza and, at the same time, convince the Israeli army to renounce a full-fledged ground invasion, then the Arabs, especially Qatar and Egypt, would have a much easier time convincing Hamas to release the hostages in exchange for thousands of Palestinian prisoners now held in Israel.
No one can pressure Israel like the United States. That's why Biden's trip was so important. He had to serve to contain his great ally, convince him that he alone will defeat Hamas in the long term and with the appropriate strategy.
Now it may be too late. Israel will give no respite to Hamas, and the death toll will continue to rise. One million people, about half the population, are displaced. They increasingly live together, in houses they consider shelters, in UN schools and outdoors. Every bomb that misses the target causes a massacre.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has “daily indications of violations of the laws of war and international law.” The air campaign on the population and its forced evacuation from the north of the strip violate the Geneva conventions.
Biden traveled to Israel yesterday against the opinion of his security team and a large part of his diplomatic advisors. The risks far outweighed the possible achievements. They told her that this was not a visit like the one she made in February to Ukraine. This was even more dangerous, but Biden understood that if he didn't do it, there would be a greater chance that the conflict would spread to the Middle East.
No American president has emerged from the Palestinian-Israeli hornet's nest better than he has entered since Bill Clinton brought together Yasir Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin in the White House to sign the Oslo accords. Even so, 30 years have passed, and almost nothing remains of that handshake between the Palestinian leader and the Israeli prime minister.
Biden has tried, but the end of this war seems much further away today than yesterday.
