The Muslim holy month of Ramadan started on Monday in Gaza with no truce in sight as the US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators failed to reach agreement on it.
The weeks of talks in Cairo aimed for a six-week truce and the release of many of the hostages taken on October 7 that Hamas is still holding. In return, Israel would free Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli jails.
Both sides blamed each other for failing to reach a truce deal, after Israel demanded a full list of surviving hostages and Hamas called for Israel to pull out all its troops from Gaza.
According to a source with knowledge of the truce talks, “there will be a diplomatic push, especially in the next 10 days” with a view of securing a deal within the first half of Ramadan.
In Washington, President Joe Biden, who faces growing criticism for his steadfast support of Israel as the civilian death toll in Gaza soars, issued a statement marking the start of Ramadan.
“This year, it comes at a moment of immense pain,” Biden said.
“As Muslims gather around the world over the coming days and weeks to break their fast, the suffering of the Palestinian people will be front of mind for many. It is front of mind for me,” Biden added.
In Saudi Arabia, King Salman called in his Ramadan message for the international community to “uphold its responsibilities to put an end to these heinous crimes and ensure the establishment of safe humanitarian and relief corridors.”
In a message of his own, UN chief Antonio Guterres expressed his “solidarity and support to all those suffering from the horrors in Gaza. In these trying times, the spirit of Ramadan is a beacon of hope, a reminder of our shared humanity.”
Meanwhile, a dire humanitarian crisis grips Gaza.
A Spanish charity ship with food aid prepared to sail from Cyprus to the coastal Gaza Strip, where the UN repeatedly warned of famine.
The non-governmental group Open Arms said that its boat would tow a barge with 200 tons of food, which its partner the US charity World Central Kitchen would then unload on Gaza’s shores.
It was expected to depart “within the coming hours,” Cypriot government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis told Cyprus News Agency.
Jordanian, US, French, Belgian and Egyptian planes parachuted aid into northern Gaza on Sunday, but the United Nations’ aid coordinator for the area said that boosting supply by land is the best way to get assistance to the territory’s 2.4 million people.
With AFP
