Biden announces humanitarian aid deal for Gaza
President Biden announced an agreement Wednesday to allow humanitarian aid to move from Egypt to Gaza and confirmed $100 million in U.S. funding for assistance to civilians in Gaza and the West Bank.
Biden, speaking in Tel Aviv as part of a trip to Israel in the wake of terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas, said he asked the Israeli Cabinet during a meeting to agree to the delivery of humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza “based on understanding that there will be inspections, and aid should go to civilians, not to Hamas.”
“Israel agreed the humanitarian assistance can begin to move from Egypt to Gaza,” Biden said.
Biden said the $100 million in U.S. funding would support more than 1 million displaced and conflict-affected Palestinians, including emergency needs in Gaza.
The announcement came amid heightened pressure from world leaders about a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which has been repeatedly hit with retaliatory Israeli strikes and lacks access to food, water and medicine.
Tensions around the Middle East rose Tuesday in the form of protests that included people targeting U.S. embassies and Israeli consulates in neighboring countries after a hospital in Gaza was hit, killing several hundred patients and those seeking refuge. A meeting with Arab leaders and Biden in Jordan was canceled just before the president took off for Tel Aviv on Tuesday in the wake of the hospital explosion.
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