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US Ship with Equipment for Building Pier is on its Way to Gaza

Humanitarian aid for Gaza is loaded on a platform at the port of Larnaca, Cyprus March 10, 2024. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou
Humanitarian aid for Gaza is loaded on a platform at the port of Larnaca, Cyprus March 10, 2024. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou
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US Ship with Equipment for Building Pier is on its Way to Gaza

Humanitarian aid for Gaza is loaded on a platform at the port of Larnaca, Cyprus March 10, 2024. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou
Humanitarian aid for Gaza is loaded on a platform at the port of Larnaca, Cyprus March 10, 2024. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou

A US Army vessel carrying equipment for building a temporary pier in Gaza was on its way to the Mediterranean on Sunday, three days after President Joe Biden announced plans to ramp up aid deliveries by sea to the besieged enclave where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been going hungry.
The opening of the sea corridor, along with airdrops by the US, Jordan and others, showed increasing alarm over Gaza’s humanitarian crisis and a new willingness to bypass Israeli control over land shipments.
Israel said it welcomed the sea deliveries and would inspect Gaza-bound cargo before it leaves a staging area in nearby Cyprus. The daily number of aid trucks entering Gaza by land over the past five months has been far below the 500 that entered before the war because of Israeli restrictions and security issues.
Meanwhile, Biden stepped up his public criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Biden said he believes Netanyahu is “hurting Israel more than helping Israel” in how he is approaching its war against Hamas in Gaza, now in its sixth month.
Speaking Saturday to MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart, the president expressed support for Israel’s right to pursue Hamas after the militants' Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, but said that Netanyahu “must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken.” He added that “you cannot have 30,000 more Palestinians dead."
In Gaza, Palestinian casualties continued to rise.
The Civil Defense Department said at least nine Palestinians, including children, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza City late Saturday.

Elsewhere, the bodies of 13 people, including women and children, were taken to the main hospital in the central town of Deir al-Balah on Sunday, according to an Associated Press journalist. Relatives said the 13 were killed by Israeli artillery fire toward a large tent camp for displaced Palestinians in the coastal area east of the southern city of Khan Younis.
The Health Ministry in Gaza said Saturday that at least 30,960 Palestinians have been killed since the war began.

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UN Envoy: What We See in Syria is a Mark of Collective Failure

Resolution 2254 was adopted by the Security Council on 18 December 2015 (UN archive)
Resolution 2254 was adopted by the Security Council on 18 December 2015 (UN archive)
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UN Envoy: What We See in Syria is a Mark of Collective Failure

Resolution 2254 was adopted by the Security Council on 18 December 2015 (UN archive)
Resolution 2254 was adopted by the Security Council on 18 December 2015 (UN archive)

United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, said on Sunday he is closely monitoring the situation on the ground in Syria, where a dramatic shift in frontlines was seen in recent days.
“What we see in Syria today is a mark of a collective failure to bring about what has plainly been required now for many years – a genuine political process to implement Security Council resolution 2254,” the envoy said in a statement.
Pedersen noted that in Syria, a country torn by nearly 14 years of war and conflict, the latest developments pose severe risks to civilians and have serious implications for regional and international peace and security.
As an immediate priority, he said, “I strongly emphasize the urgent need for all to uphold their obligations under international law to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure.”
“This is a clear message to all parties engaged in hostilities of any kind. I will continue to push for civilian protection and deescalation,” the envoy added.
Pedersen then recalled the times he repeatedly warned of the risks of escalation in Syria, of the dangers of mere conflict management rather than conflict resolution, and the reality that no Syrian party or existing grouping of actors can resolve the Syrian conflict via military means.
“I call for urgent and serious political engagement – among Syrian and international stakeholders - to spare bloodshed and focus on a political solution in accordance with Security Council resolution 2254,” he said.
The envoy then affirmed his will to continue to engage all parties and stand ready to use my good offices to convene international and Syria stakeholders in new and comprehensive peace talks on Syria.
Presented by the US, Resolution 2254 was adopted by the Security Council on 18 December 2015.
It emphasizes the need for all parties in Syria to take confidence building measures to contribute to the viability of a political process and a lasting ceasefire, and calls on all states to use their influence with the Syrian government and the opposition to advance the peace process, confidence building measures and steps towards a ceasefire.
The resolution also expresses support for a Syrian-led political process that is facilitated by the UN and, within a target of six months, establishes credible, inclusive and non-sectarian governance and sets a schedule and process for drafting a new constitution.
Since the adoption of the resolution, Geneva has hosted several meetings of the parties involved in the conflict in Syria. However, those parties failed to reach an agreement, especially after Moscow established in 2017 the Astana dialogue followed in 2018 by the Sochi process.
Resolution 2254 calls on the release of any arbitrarily detained persons, particularly women and children, and on the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) states to use their influence immediately to these ends.
It demands that all parties immediately cease any attacks against civilians and civilian objects as such, including attacks against medical facilities and personnel, and any indiscriminate use of weapons, including through shelling and aerial bombardment.