The Secretary of State of the United States, Anthony Blinken, considers that there are “steps in the right direction”, after Israel has announced the opening of new routes that allow the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza temporarily, but demands that “ results in the coming days and weeks.”
The warning from the United States, following a phone call between President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has made the Israeli government react. A decision that Blinken has celebrated. “These are steps in the right direction, but the real test will be the results and this is what we hope to see in the coming days and weeks,” he said in a statement in the Belgian city of Leuven, after the Trade and Trade Council. Technology between the United States and the EU.
Israel announced this Friday that it will temporarily allow aid through the port of Ashdod, in southern Israel, the Erez crossing, which directly accesses the north of the Strip, in addition to increasing the flow of aid from Jordan that It enters through the Kerem Shalom crossing, in the south.
Blinken has insisted that all humanitarian workers must enter the Strip “safely.” For the Secretary of State, “results” must be seen such as the increase in the number of trucks (according to the UN, they now do not reach a hundred, a much lower figure even before the conflict) to be able to reach the entire population of “ “continuously”, but “not only being able to enter, but also being able to distribute all the aid in Gaza, including the north” of the Strip, he added. “It is especially relevant, because we are concerned that practically 100% of the population in Gaza faces levels of acute food insecurity, and with severe indicators of famine.”
“Is aid effectively reaching the people who need it? Are bottlenecks at border crossings resolved? Is an adequate system in place to ensure the safety of humanitarian workers? These are all the questions. issues that we will take into account,” he assured.
Likewise, he has also demanded an “independent and exhaustive” investigation into the death of the humanitarian workers of the World Central Kitchen organization, of the Spanish chef, José Andrés, hit by an air attack launched by Israel at the beginning of the week, while “they were carrying carried out heroic work under very difficult circumstances,” Blinken noted.
For its part, the European Commission has also welcomed Israel’s announcement to open new access routes for humanitarian aid so that it can be distributed “fully” and “quickly,” it urged in a statement.
Likewise, the Executive insists that “innocent civilians and humanitarian workers must be protected, in line with international humanitarian law”; and asks “all actors in the region” to allow “a significant increase” in the entry of aid into the Strip.
