U.S. President Joe Biden has promised make a high-stakes visit to Israel on Wednesday to show support for its war on Hamas.
Following reports from Washington that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has consented to allow aid to reach Gazans under siege, this occurred.
After visiting Israel, Biden would go to Jordan to meet with King Abdullah, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, according to John Kirby, the U.S. national security spokeswoman.
The only gateway to the enclave not under Israeli control, Rafah crossing in Egypt, was reached by trucks bringing essential supplies for Gaza.
Approximately 160 trucks, according to a witness, left the nearby Egyptian town of Al-Arish, where they had been backed up for days as diplomats attempted to open the road.
Following the murder of 1,300 people, mostly civilians, by Hamas militants on October 7, the worst day in Israel’s 75-year history, during a rampage across southern Israeli towns, Israel has threatened to completely destroy the movement that rules Gaza.
More than 2,800 Palestinians have been dead and over half of the 2.3 million residents of the Hamas-run Gaza enclave have been ejected from their homes as a result of Israel’s airstrikes on the area.
The Gaza Strip is currently under a complete siege that has prevented the delivery of any aid, including food, fuel, and medical supplies.
After hours of discussions with Netanyahu, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed the visit that Biden would be making.
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Netanyahu, he claimed, had consented to create a strategy to get aid to Gaza’s population.
“The president will hear from Israel what it needs to defend its people as we continue to work with Congress to meet those needs,” Blinken said.
Biden would also “hear from Israel how it will conduct its operations in a way that minimizes civilian casualties and enables humanitarian assistance to flow to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not benefit Hamas.”
Washington is also trying to rally Arab states to help head off a wider regional war, after Iran pledged “preemptive action” from the “resistance front” of its allies which include the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon.
The Israeli military said it had struck Hamas and Islamic Jihad military targets overnight, including Hamas’ headquarters and a bank used by the group.
According to the interior ministry of Gaza, a nighttime Israeli strike on residences in Khan Younis and Rafah resulted in at least 49 Palestinian deaths.
Israel claims that during their assault, Hamas militants took 199 captives.
While making it obvious that it wants to exchange Israeli hostages for thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, Hamas claimed that foreigners among the detainees were its “guests” who would be released “when circumstances allow.”
On Monday, it published a video in which a French-Israeli captive was shown getting an injured arm attended to by a medical professional.
Mia Scheme, age 21, introduced herself and requested to be taken back as soon as possible to her family.
Reuters/NAN
