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.



UNIFIL Demands Lebanon, Israel to Authorize New Surveillance Technologies

UNIFIL peacekeepers patrolling in south Lebanon (AFP) 
UNIFIL peacekeepers patrolling in south Lebanon (AFP) 
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UNIFIL Demands Lebanon, Israel to Authorize New Surveillance Technologies

UNIFIL peacekeepers patrolling in south Lebanon (AFP) 
UNIFIL peacekeepers patrolling in south Lebanon (AFP) 

UN Security Council members on Monday inquired about the request of UNIFIL to possess new technologies that would guarantee the mission’s freedom of movement and access throughout its area of operations along the Blue Line in the south of Lebanon.

In closed consultations held on Monday, the UN Council members received a briefing on UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ latest report on the implementation of resolution 1701, which was circulated to Council members on 11 March.

The report urged prioritizing UNIFIL’s monitoring and verifying mechanisms, and enhancing tactical response in implementation of the resolution.

Adopted in 2006, Resolution 1701 called for a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

At the session on Monday, Council members listened to briefings by Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix on developments in UNIFIL area of operations from south of the Litani River to the Blue Line in accordance with the Taif Accord and Security Council Resolutions 1559, 1701 and 1680.

The resolutions stipulate the disarmament of armed groups in Lebanon, including Hezbollah and the full control of territories by the Lebanese government.

 

In his 35-page report, the Secretary-General welcomed the “continued holding of the cessation of hostilities...despite challenges.”

The report registered progress towards the objective outlined in the cessation of hostilities arrangement of the withdrawal of the Israeli army south of the Blue Line and the deployment of the Lebanese armed forces.

It notes, however, that the “situation remains fragile” and that the Israeli army has “not yet completely withdrawn from Lebanese territory, remaining at five locations, and designating two areas as so called ‘buffer zones’ along the Blue Line.”

The Secretary-General also noted that the Lebanese Army has started to dismantle military infrastructure and confiscate weapons “believed to have belonged to Hezbollah south of the Litani River.”

Israel’s Withdrawal

In his report, Guterres urged parties to effectively implement their side of the cessation of hostilities arrangement and resolution 1701.

He notes that the Israeli army’s presence north of the Blue Line is a violation of Lebanese sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as of resolution 1701, and undermines the efforts of the Lebanese authorities to extend state authority throughout its territory.

The UN Chief also rejected the continued occupation of the northern part of the town of Ghajar and the adjacent area north of the Blue Line, condemning “all violations of Lebanese sovereignty.”

Aoun and Salam’s Efforts

Guterres welcomed recent political developments in Lebanon, such as the election of President Joseph Aoun on January 9, the designation on 13 January of Nawaf Salam as prime minister and the formation of the government on 8 February.

The Secretary-General spoke about the dramatic human impact and the utter level of destruction caused by the recent conflict in Lebanon, calling on donors to fully fund the 2025 Lebanon Response Plan and the Emergency Appeal.

Guterres expressed “optimism about Aoun’s pledge to take control of all arms outside state authority and fully implement the ceasefire deal with Israel.”

He called on the Lebanese Government to “facilitate the full implementation of the relevant provisions of the Taif Agreement and resolutions 1559, 1701 and 1680.