Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi called on the international community Thursday to work to stop the war in Gaza.
“I further urge the international community to take immediate and decisive action to enforce the instantaneous and unfettered delivery of humanitarian aid and assistance to the Gaza Strip to break the Israeli siege and counter any attempts to forcibly displace the Palestinians from their lands,” el-Sissi said as he and other Arab leaders participated in a summit in Beijing.
Chinese President Xi Jinping announced Thursday $69 million in humanitarian aid for Gaza, as well as $3 million for the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees.
Xi said war “should not continue indefinitely” while reiterating China’s position on the need for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.
Israel’s military reported Thursday it conducted airstrikes against more than 50 targets during the past day.
The Israel Defense Forces also described ground operations in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, in the Jabaliya area in northern Gaza, and in the central part of the Gaza Strip.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that Israel needs a postwar plan “as soon as possible” and that the absence of such a plan could lead to chaos.
“And I think this underscores the imperative of having a plan for the day after, because in the absence of a plan for the day after, there won’t be a day after,” Blinken told reporters. “If not, Hamas will be left in charge, which is unacceptable. Or if not, we’ll have chaos, lawlessness and a vacuum.”
The U.N. official in charge of the Middle East peace process echoed those concerns Wednesday, saying a longer-term political strategy must be part of the current efforts to end the fighting.
“Let me be clear: The political framework and structures we establish now will play a significant role in the success or failure of what follows,” Tor Wennesland told a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on the Middle East. “This requires us to plan and act deliberately and thoughtfully, knowing that today’s decisions will not only shape the future governance of Gaza, but also determine the trajectory of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict more broadly.”
Calls for international action
At the United Nations, Algeria has circulated a draft Security Council resolution calling for an immediate halt to Israel’s military offensive in Rafah, in line with a provisional order from the International Court of Justice on May 24.
“We need a unified council, because waiting for the occupying power to voluntarily abide by international law and Security Council resolutions is pointless,” Ambassador Amar Bendjama said at Wednesday’s council meeting, referring to Israel. “The occupying authority made it clear they will not comply with the orders of the International Court of Justice.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said Israel needs to carry out the Rafah offensive to achieve its goal of ensuring Hamas cannot operate in Gaza and threaten Israel in the future. Israel says four Hamas battalions remain in Rafah.
Council members expressed an urgent need for Israel to end its offensive, especially in the aftermath of an apparent Israeli airstrike Sunday that killed at least 45 Palestinians sheltering in a refugee camp in Rafah and wounded 200 others.
“Instead of halting immediately its offensive on Rafah — as ordered by the world’s highest court — it has bombed people it had displaced while they were sheltering in tents,” Palestinian deputy U.N. envoy Majed Bamya told the council.
Israel’s military said it is looking into the possibility that Hamas may have stored weapons in the area that could have sparked the fire that tore through the camp.
“Our munitions alone could not have ignited a fire of this size,” IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Tuesday.
The United States has expressed its horror over the deaths and injuries in the camp, saying the images were heartbreaking.
“We have urged Israel to do more to protect innocent Palestinian lives and to undertake a swift, transparent and comprehensive investigation,” U.S. Deputy U.N. Ambassador Robert Wood told the council.
“It is important to underline that the most recent strike on the displaced camp in Rafah is not an isolated incident,” Slovenia’s Deputy U.N. Ambassador Ondina Blokar Drobic said. “There have been several incidents in Gaza, and in one case after the other, we were told that investigations were taking place. However, this council has not received any information or the follow-up.”
The Israel-Hamas war was triggered by the October 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials, and led to the capture of about 250 hostages. Israel’s subsequent counteroffensive has killed more than 36,100 Palestinians, a death toll that includes both civilians and combatants, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
United Nations correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. Some material in this report was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
