On Thursday, according to a statement from Moscow’s emergency ministry, 27 tonnes of humanitarian aid for civilians in the Gaza Strip was sent from Moscow to be transported via Egypt. “A special plane has taken off from the airport at Ramenskoye near Moscow for El-Arish in Egypt,” the ministry said. “The Russian humanitarian aid will be handed over to the Egyptian Red Crescent to be sent to the Gaza Strip.” Deputy Minister Ilya Denisov said that the aid consists of wheat, sugar, rice, and pasta.
The announcement came after an Israeli airstrike hit a hospital in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, killing at least 471 people, including patients and medical personnel. The strike sparked outrage across the Arab world, prompting calls for mass mobilization by Hezbollah in Lebanon and Palestinian factions. Israeli officials denied responsibility for the attack.
Meanwhile, US Vice President Kamala Harris called on leaders worldwide to cool the conflict and deliver urgently needed humanitarian assistance to the besieged Palestinian enclave. “Hamas’ actions are not in the interests of the people of Gaza,” she said in a statement, adding that the group “does not represent the rights of the Palestinian people.”
Read here: Unpacking the Gaza Hospital Explosion: What We Currently Understand
The White House announced that US President Joe Biden spoke with Egyptian Prime Minister Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi on Wednesday and urged Cairo to facilitate a rapid and robust global response to the Palestinians’ plight. Biden and Sisi discussed ongoing coordination to deliver humanitarian assistance to Gaza and mechanisms to ensure it is distributed for the benefit of civilians.
Hundreds of trucks and tons of supplies are awaiting passage into the Gaza Strip at the Rafah crossing, Egypt’s only connection with the enclave. However, the crossing remains closed after recent fighting between Israel and Hamas. Despite a US request to Egypt to open the border for relief, the closure comes.
More than a million Gazans have fled their homes because of escalating violence, as Israel has bombarded the coastal enclave with hundreds of rockets and airstrikes. The escalation has raised concerns that the region could be headed toward an unthinkable disaster. The leaders of Egypt, Jordan, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas – friends of the United States – have condemned the campaign, but it has not been enough to halt it.
Angry protesters have hurled stones at security forces in the West Bank and riot police in neighboring Jordan. Hezbollah’s leader warned that his militia would fight Israel until it destroyed the Jewish state. Egyptian football star Mohamed Salah, the world’s most famous Arab sportsman, appealed to world leaders for help in a Thursday video posted on social media. “It is time to come together and stop the slaughter of innocent souls,” he wrote in the video. It was his first public comment on the crisis.