Egypt’s Sisi accuses Israel of impeding aid deliveries to Gaza
DUBAI — Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi accused Israel on Wednesday of holding up aid deliveries for the Gaza Strip as a pressure tactic, the latest sign of friction between the two countries that have maintained a blockade on the enclave.
“This is a form of pressure on the Gaza Strip and its people over the conflict and the release of hostages. They are using this as a pressure tool on the people of the Strip,” Sisi said in comments to mark Egypt’s national police day.
Israel, which denies holding up aid, launched an air and ground war in Gaza after Hamas militants stormed across its border on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking hostages, about 130 of whom remain in captivity.
Israel’s response has left more than 25,000 dead and caused a severe humanitarian crisis, with most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people left homeless and acutely short of food, water, medicine and fuel.
More than 1.2 million people are crammed in the south of Gaza in and around the city of Rafah, raising fears in Egypt that Palestinians will be displaced across the border into its Sinai Peninsula.
Egypt, along with Qatar, has been negotiating with Israel and Hamas for a ceasefire and the release of hostages in Gaza, efforts that Sisi said in separate comments later on Wednesday were being intensified.
Limited amounts of aid have been delivered through the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza, and since December, through the Israeli-controlled crossing of Kerem Shalom.
“We used to send Gaza 600 trucks a day. But for the past two to three days, we are not delivering more than 200 to 220 trucks (of aid) per day. How are these people (in Gaza) living?” Sisi said.
“Egypt’s Rafah crossing is open 24/7 every day of the month. But the procedures taking place on the Israeli side for us to send in the aid without it being blocked by anyone, they are the reason (for holdups).”
Data from U.N. agency UNRWA shows fewer than 200 trucks entering Gaza daily since Jan. 24.
Greenpeace activists call for cease-fire with banner over Madrid museum
Greenpeace activists hung a banner over the glass facade of an art museum in Madrid showing an image of a crying Palestinian child and text that reads: “Can You Hear Us? Ceasefire Now.”
The campaigning network’s Spanish branch uploaded video to X showing four activists unspooling the banner this week outside Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Spain’s national museum of 20th-century works.
Nine dead, scores injured after tank attack on U.N. agency center, director says
Nine people are said to have been killed and another 75 wounded after two tank rounds hit a United Nations building sheltering 800 civilians in Gaza, according to the director of affairs for the U.N. agency focused on Palestinian refugees.
The casualties at the UNRWA building come amid escalating fighting in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. The area has been encircled by the Israeli military, which has described the city as a "significant stronghold" for Hamas militants.
"Buildings ablaze and mass casualties - safe access to/from the centre has been denied for 2 days - people are trapped," UNRWA official Thomas White said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
White said UNRWA and World Health Organization workers were trying to reach the agency's besieged training center, adding that an "agreed upon route with Israeli Army blocked with earth bank."
Medical teams 'working while debris is falling on their heads,' U.N. humanitarian chief says
Emergency medical teams are working "while debris is falling on their heads" at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, the under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator said on X yesterday.
Martin Griffiths said staff were unable to access the facility in Gaza's second-largest city. His comments came after the Israeli military said it had encircled the city.
A warehouse was hit, which killed two people, he said, “cutting off access to humanitarian supplies and to critical water and sanitation equipment.”
The IDF said in a statement today that it was intensifying its operations in Khan Younis.
Three Palestinians killed amid Israeli attacks near Khan Younis hospitals, Red Crescent says
At least three displaced people have been killed and two others injured amid continued Israeli military activity near the Palestine Red Crescent Society headquarters in Khan Younis, PRCS said today on X.
It separately said there was "intense shelling" in the vicinity of the Al-Amal Hospital. This comes as the IDF ramps up its campaign in southern Gaza, saying it is eliminating Hamas targets.
The Gazan information ministry said dozens of civilians were killed in the city today.
Only 7 hospitals remain partially functional in northern Gaza, WHO says
Only seven of the 24 hospitals in northern Gaza are partially functioning, the World Health Organization said today in a statement. Those hospitals do not have enough staff or supplies, the organization added.
In the south of the enclave, the WHO said that seven of the 12 hospitals were partially open.
An “intensified military presence and hostilities” was putting the lives of patients and workers at risk, the WHO said, adding that the situation for staff in hospitals in the southern city of Khan Younis was “catastrophic and indescribable.”
At least 9 reported dead after Israel tank rounds hit facility in Khan Younis, UNRWA chief says
At least nine people were reported killed and 75 injured when two tank rounds hit a building at a training facility in the city of Khan Younis, the director of affairs for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency said on X today.
Thomas White said the building sheltered 800 people. He added that a team trying to reach the center agreed upon a route with the Israeli army, only to find it blocked with an earth bank.
In an earlier post he said buildings were “ablaze” at the facility, which he said was home to tens of thousands of people.
‘War is always a defeat,’ Pope Francis says in new anti-war plea
Pope Francis called today for an end to the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, in a speech in the Vatican ahead of the remembrance day for Holocaust victims next week.
“War is always a defeat, always,” he said. “The only winners, so to speak, are weapons manufacturers,” he added.
China says it is working to alleviate tensions in the Red Sea
HONG KONG — China is deeply concerned over the escalations in the Red Sea that have threatened global trade through the vital shipping route, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said today at a briefing.
China, the world's biggest exporter, was in “close communication with various parties” and has “worked actively” to alleviate the tensions in the region, he said.
Wang's comments came after the U.S. military struck two anti-ship missiles in Yemen operated by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.
He said the tensions were related to the war in Gaza and the priority was to “end the fighting.”
Cellular services return in Gaza, telecom says
Cellular services across the Gaza Strip are being restored, the enclave’s main telecommunications company Paltel said today in a post on X.
“Our crews are working hard to restore all communications services to what they were before the recent outage,” it said.