Gaza; the international appeal for hostages

United States President Joe Biden signed, together with 17 international leaders, a letter calling for the release of Israeli hostages still in the hands of Hamas after the attack on October 7, 2023. Biden he launched the appeal after meeting little Avigail Idan who lost her parents in that attack.

The immediate release of all hostages in Gaza is the precondition for the ceasefire. «The agreement would lead to an immediate ceasefire and would give the possibility of bringing in much more aid. We support efforts to bring our citizens home. Hamas must let them go” the letter reads. The United States has begun construction of the pier that will be used to bring aid to the Gaza Strip.

Participating in the letter are France, Germany, Great Britain and 14 others of the 25 nations that have their citizens in the hands of Hamas. “American pressure has no value” was Hamas’ immediate response. The only possible agreement involves “the end of the war and the total removal of the troops”. There is a diplomatic path open. Egypt handed Israel a Hamas proposal for a one-year ceasefire in exchange for a halt to attacks on Israeli forces.

Hamas, through Khalil al-Hayya, one of the top leaders of the political wing, said the group would be ready to accept a truce with Israel if an independent Palestinian state is created along the pre-1967 borders in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Gaza.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army continues preparations for the invasion of Rafah. It has massed dozens of tanks and armored vehicles along the border with the southern Gaza Strip. Here there are also over one and a half million displaced people and the entire population of the Strip, 2.2 million inhabitants, is the victim of the most serious food crisis in the history of the food security scale according to the Global Report on Food Crises 2024 by Food Security Information Network.

It is predicted that by July 2024 half of the population will suffer from levels of Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5) and severe food insecurity. It is estimated that almost a third of children have been acutely malnourished since March.