US Central Command Commander Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla has discussed with the Egyptian 2nd Field Army and representatives from several international and nongovernmental organizations the process of delivering humanitarian aid from Egypt into Gaza, CENTCOM said in a statement on Monday.
It said Kurilla visited Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Israel to better understand the security and humanitarian situation and meet with US service members and security partners.
“On Feb. 27, Kurilla traveled to Al Arish and Rafah Gate in Egypt where he met with representatives from several international and nongovernmental organizations, the Egyptian 2nd Field Army, and US embassy leadership to discuss the process of delivering humanitarian aid from Egypt into Gaza. The administrators described the challenges, opportunities, and level of support from the international community to increase the throughput of supplies into Gaza,” said the statement.
The next day, Kurilla visited Jordan where he met with the Jordanian Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Maj. Gen. Yousef Alhnaity, his staff, and other leaders to discuss the Israel-Hamas war, Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, and regional security.
Discussions also focused on opportunities to increase aid into Gaza to address the humanitarian crisis.
On Feb. 28 and 29, Kurilla visited CENTCOM military facilities in Jordan and Syria.
While in Syria, he visited al-Roj and al-Hol displaced persons camps where he met with administrators and dozens of inhabitants to discuss repatriation, rehabilitation, and reintegration of both ISIS detainees and conflict-affected residents. More than 45,000 displaced persons are in both al Roj and al Hol, and over 9,000 ISIS detainees are in Syria.
From Feb. 28 to Mar. 2., Kurilla traveled to Israel and met with Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, the Chief of the Israeli General Staff, Herzi Halevi, and members of the Israeli army staff.
“The three had wide-ranging discussions on security concerns both within and outside of Israel. The conversations also focused on opportunities to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza,” said the statement.
"This was my 27th trip to the CENTCOM region and every one of these trips allows me to gain a deeper understanding of the security challenges and opportunities as well as the unique perspectives that cannot be attained over the phone or through a video teleconference," said Kurilla.
"These are challenging times in the CENTCOM region, and we rely on the professionalism, commitment and competence of our Service-members as well as the strength of our relationships with our partners to solve them,” he added.
