Humanitarian Aid, Medicine Successfully Arrive in Gaza
- VIVA.co.id/Arianti Widya
Gaza – After being held up for nearly two months, humanitarian aid for the besieged Gaza Strip has now been delivered under a deal brokered between Israel and Hamas.
The aid, including medicine for Israeli prisoners still held by Hamas, was on its way from Egypt on Wednesday, after being flown from France to Qatar.
Paris and Doha announced earlier in the day that they had brokered the first deal between Israel and Palestinian groups since a ceasefire ended on December 1.
More than 100 of the 240 prisoners captured by Hamas during its October 7 attack on Israel were released during a week-long lull in fighting, which was followed by lengthy negotiations mediated by Qatar and the United States.
Truk-truk bermuatan bantuan kemanusiaan bersiap memasuki Gaza di sisi Mesir dari perbatasan Rafah yang menyeberang dengan Gaza pada 21 Oktober 2023.
- Antara Photo/Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa.
In return, Israel also released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. However, efforts to bring Israel and Hamas back to the negotiating table have failed since then.
Israel says it will not stop bombing Gaza until all prisoners are released and Hamas is destroyed. In contrast, Hamas has said it will not release prisoners without a full ceasefire.
France said on Tuesday that negotiations on the aid deal have been ongoing for some time, and the idea originally came from the families of some Israeli prisoners.
The aid will be channeled to the International Committee of the Red Cross at the border. After crossing the border into Gaza, the aid will be handed over to Hamas. Paris said that it took them months to organize the supply of medicines.
Several elderly men are among the more than 100 prisoners still held by Hamas. Most of the women and children were already released during the week-long ceasefire that ended on December 1 last year.