Egypt Exerts Efforts to Alleviate the Suffering of Palestinians

Recreational activities for Gaza children inside a Khan Yunis camp. (Egyptian Red Crescent)
Recreational activities for Gaza children inside a Khan Yunis camp. (Egyptian Red Crescent)
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Egypt Exerts Efforts to Alleviate the Suffering of Palestinians

Recreational activities for Gaza children inside a Khan Yunis camp. (Egyptian Red Crescent)
Recreational activities for Gaza children inside a Khan Yunis camp. (Egyptian Red Crescent)

The Egyptian air force carried out an airdrop of humanitarian aid Tuesday in the Gaza Strip, while Cairo has finished the preparation of a second refugee camp in Gaza.

The airdrop was conducted in cooperation with Jordan and the UAE, said state-run Al-Qahera News, citing high-level sources.

“Some 45 tons of Egyptian humanitarian aid were dropped in the northern and central Gaza Strip,” it said.

Egypt "intensifies its efforts by land and air to relieve the stricken areas in the northern Gaza Strip and supply them with urgent aid,” said Al-Qahera News.

It said Egypt plans to airdrop 50 tons of urgent humanitarian aid in the northern and central Gaza Strip.

Egypt is setting up a third refugee camp in the Gaza Strip and preparing a field hospital for Palestinians displaced by Israeli attacks, Al-Qahera News reported.

The camp will be in northern Deir el-Balah province in central Gaza, the Egyptian TV channel said, citing a security source. It said Egypt had already finished its second camp in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

The Egyptian Red Crescent, in cooperation with the Palestinian Red Crescent, set up the first camp for the displaced in Khan Yunis.

More than 2,200 Palestinians wounded in the Gaza Strip have crossed into Egypt through the Rafah border since Nov. 1, 2023, the Egyptian Ministry of Health said. The statement said 47 hospitals in eight Egyptian provinces treated the wounded and performed more than 1,300 surgeries.

Diaa Rashwan, the head of Egypt’s State Information Service, denied media reports alleging that Egypt is building camps on the Egyptian side of the border in Sinai to accommodate displaced Palestinians from Gaza.

Rashwan reiterated Egypt’s rejection of any “forced or voluntary” displacement of Palestinians outside their lands, especially to Egypt. Any such displacement would result in the “certain liquidation of the Palestinian issue, and [would be] a direct threat to Egyptian sovereignty and national security,” he added.



US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
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US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)

The United States is deferring the removal of certain Lebanese citizens from the country, President Joe Biden said on Friday, citing humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon amid tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.

The deferred designation, which lasts 18 months, allows Lebanese citizens to remain in the country with the right to work, according to a memorandum Biden sent to the Department of Homeland Security.

"Humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon have significantly deteriorated due to tensions between Hezbollah and Israel," Biden said in the memo.

"While I remain focused on de-escalating the situation and improving humanitarian conditions, many civilians remain in danger; therefore, I am directing the deferral of removal of certain Lebanese nationals who are present in the United States."

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have been trading fire since Hezbollah announced a "support front" with Palestinians shortly after its ally Hamas attacked southern Israeli border communities on Oct. 7, triggering Israel's military assault in Gaza.

The fighting in Lebanon has killed more than 100 civilians and more than 300 Hezbollah fighters, according to a Reuters tally, and led to levels of destruction in Lebanese border towns and villages not seen since the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.

On the Israeli side, 10 Israeli civilians, a foreign agricultural worker and 20 Israeli soldiers have been killed. Tens of thousands have been evacuated from both sides of the border.